Presidential poll: PDP demands INEC chair’s resignation

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, was compromised to rig the February 25, 2023, presidential election.

The PDP, while calling for the immediate resignation of the INEC chairman, said Yakubu violated the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.

The opposition party stated that INEC, under the directive of Yakubu, sabotaged the uploading and transmission of results directly from the polling units in the just concluded presidential election to manipulate the poll results.

The party said this via a statement issued on Friday by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba.

The PDP noted that the move by INEC to reconfigure the BVAS machines was aimed at erasing and destroying “evidence of its manipulation of the presidential election, deny Nigerians and political parties, especially our party and candidate access to relevant information required to prosecute our case at the Presidential Election Tribunal.”

It said: “From all indications, the INEC under Prof. Mahmood Yakubu was compromised to rig the election by brazenly violating the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022 as well as INEC’s Regulations, Guidelines and Manual issued for the election.

“It is also obvious that the Commission under Prof. Mahmood Yakubu deliberately sabotaged the uploading and transmission of results directly from the Polling Units to give room for the criminal mutilation, alteration and switching of election results across the nation in favour of the APC as now abundantly exposed in the pictorial and video evidence of compromised results sheets in many parts of the country.

“Several evidence abounds in states across the six geo-political zones of the country where winning figures lawfully scored by the PDP were switched in favour of the APC; where results sheet from polling centres won by the PDP were destroyed and replaced with fake results sheets in which APC was allocated unearned winning figures.

“This further explains why the INEC Chairman rushed to announce and declare manipulated results that were not transmitted directly from the Polling Units to INEC’s Server/Website and ignored the objections and complaints raised during the collation of results in deliberate violation of the provisions of Section 64 (4) (a) and (b), 64 (6) (a)-(d), and 65 (1) (c) of the Electoral Act. 2022.

“For emphasis, while Section 64 (4) (a) and (b) expressly require the INEC Chairman as the Chief Returning Officer to announce only results that were transmitted directly from the Polling Units, Sections 64 (6) (a)-(d) and 65 (1) (c) compel INEC, in the case of disputes, complaints or objections regarding a collated result or the result of an election from any Polling Unit, to take steps including the review of collation where they are made contrary to the provisions of the Law, Regulations, Guidelines and Manual issued for the election.

“By flagrantly violating these provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022 as well as INEC’s Regulations, Guidelines and Manual for the election, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu is not only culpable of serious electoral offence but also betrayed, thrashed and threw overboard the trust, confidence and hope Nigerians reposed in him and the Electoral Commission to deliver a free, fair and credible election in the country.”

Calling for Yakubu’s resignation, the PDP said the continuous stay of the INEC chairman in office as the chairman of the commission “is vexatious, injurious to the integrity of the Electoral Commission and an unpardonable assault to the credibility of our electoral process, the sensibility of Nigerians and the International Community.”

“Moreover, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu’s stay in office is capable of paving the way for the suppression, tampering and destruction of critical evidence required to further expose the infractions and violations by the Commission at the Presidential Election Tribunal.

“This fear is evidenced by the desperation by INEC to reconfigure the BVAS devices to erase vital data contained therein.

“Consequently, the PDP demands that the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu immediately step down from office, having abused the confidence and dashed the hope of millions of Nigerians as well as political parties and the International Community for a free, fair and credible election.

“Nigerians no longer have faith in Prof. Mahmood Yakubu’s capacity and integrity to manage a democracy institution as sensitive as INEC.

“Prof. Mahmood Yakubu’s exit as Chairman of INEC will be the first step towards sanitizing the Electoral Commission and restoring the confidence of Nigerians especially as the nation prepares for the rescheduled March 18, 2023, Governorship and State Assembly elections,” the opposition party added.

It further called on the Inspector-General of Police and the Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS) to immediately commence investigations into the electoral violations and manipulations by INEC with the view to prosecuting Yakubu and other officials of the commission for electoral offences.

The PDP also urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to commence an investigation into allegations that some top INEC officials were compromised financially to manipulate the electoral process.

It equally called on the International Community to immediately impose sanctions including travel restrictions on the INEC chairman and other top officials of the commission over “their roles in compromising democracy in Nigeria”.

The PDP, therefore, urged Nigerians to remain calm “but very alert as our party continues to take steps to retrieve our mandate at the Presidential Election Tribunal.”

The Star

Segun Ojo