Calls for the suspension or outright sack and probe of the Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yabuku, have received support from analysts who spoke with Sunday Independent on the matter.
The analysts noted that so many controversies have arising as a result of the conduct of the 2023 elections for failing to meets the guidelines of the electoral body itself and the Electoral Act.
They argued that it would be necessary for an independent probe of the allegations that have been made against the head of INEC.
This is as about 70 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have come together to demand that Prof Yakubu be sacked to save the nation’s electoral system and sanitise the country’s fledgling democracy.
One of such analysts, Dr. Kannayo Success Uchime, who spoke to Sunday Independent, maintained that the recent call by the CSOs for Yakubu’s sack is a welcome development, if indeed he is found to have had a hand in the alleged manipulations.
It would be recalled that the INEC boss came under fire when he announced the result of the 2023 presidential election amid protests, instead of acceding to the calls of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP), and other opposition parties for a review within seven days as provided by the Electoral Act.
A cross section of Nigerians had been wondering why the BVAS system worked for the National Assembly election across the country, but failed to upload results of the presidential election in real time as the INEC had promised.
Yakubu, it would also be recalled, announced the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu as the president-elect, while PDP’s Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party’s Peter Obi were named as having come second and third respectively in the election.
Both Atiku and Obi are already at the Presidential Election Tribunal challenging Yakubu’s announcement of Tinubu as the winner of the election
Uchime stated: “In fact, in a normal society, the INEC Chairman, Prof. Yakubu Moumudu, is not supposed to be walking freely in the streets of Nigeria. He should be hiding his face in shame by now for organising the worst elections in the history of Nigeria.
“The INEC Chairman should not just be sacked, he should be arrested and charged to court. He should also apologise to Nigerians.
“Failure to that, he should be regarded as the great enemy of the country. In actual fact, if anything happens to our democracy, Prof Yakubu should be held responsible for it.
“He has done a great and terrible disservice to this great country, Nigeria. He has brought shame and disgrace to the country.
“Nigeria has no single worth again in the midst of the international community, just because of the alleged nefarious act of the man in question.
“He is trying to leave a legacy of corruption and illegality to the future generation of Nigerians, which should be resisted by all means.”
Contributing, a social and political activist, Comrade Kunle Wizeman Ajayi, stated that the sack of the INEC chairman, if accepted, may be a correct and right signal.
Comrade Ajayi, former Chairman of the African Action Congress (AAC) in Lagos State, and a member of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC), stressed: “But, the deed has been done. Mass actions would have been held to prevent the impunity in the first place.
“Who is sure about who will take over? The approach of my party, the African Action Congress (AAC), is to always prevent the prevalence of impunity.
“If we had the momentum, we are sure INEC dared not tamper with the results as we would have occupied all INEC offices nationwide, and the right thing would have been done!”
