Public interest and human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, has said that the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Mahmood Yakubu “has written his name in the book of infamy.”
Inibehe made the statement on Wednesday, hours after the electoral commission Chairman announced the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu as the winner of 2023 presidential election.
The Collation and announcement of the APC winner of the February 25th presidential poll has been greeted with a lot of controversy, following the failure of INEC to obey the electoral law and the guidelines stipulated by the commission.
Section 60 (5) of the Electoral Act 2022 and Clause 38 of the INEC Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of Election, 2022, said that presiding officers must transmit results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) on completion of elections and failure to comply is a criminal offence.
The electoral act also said that any presiding officer that violates this requirement is liable on conviction to a fine of N500,000 or imprisonment for a term not less than six months.
In a twitter post, the human rights lawyer said:
“The more I read INEC Guidelines for the 2023 elections, the more I see Prof. Mahmood as a very dishonest man.
“The Guidelines issued by him pursuant to the Electoral Act is supposed to make manipulation difficult and detectable. Mahmood has written his name in the book of infamy.”
