PDP asks IGP, DSS DG, to probe INEC chair for ‘electoral offences
Usman Baba, the inspector general of police, and Yusuf Bichi, the director-general of the Department of State Services (DSS), have been requested by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to “immediately” look into allegations of electoral offenses against Mahmood Yakubu, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Yakubu should be looked into and prosecuted, said PDP spokesperson Debo Ologunagba during a press conference on Friday in Abuja, for allegedly violating the terms of the 2022 electoral act during the conduct of the presidential election.
A scheme to “erase and destroy 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,” according to the PDP, is how INEC plans to reconfigure the bimodal voter accreditation system (BVAS) devices for the governorship election.
From all appearances, the Electoral Act of 2022’s rules were flagrantly broken by the INEC under Mahmood Yakubu in order to rig the election, according to Ologunagba.
Mahmood Yakubu is not only guilty of a serious electoral offense but also betrayed the confidence and hope that Nigerians placed in him and the electoral commission to conduct a free, fair, and credible election by flagrantly violating these provisions of the Electoral Act of 2022 and INEC’s regulations, guidelines, and Manual for the election.
Hence, Mahmood Yakubu’s continued tenure as INEC chairman is frustrating, harmful to the electoral commission’s integrity, and an abhorrent attack on the legitimacy of our democratic system, Nigerians’ sensibilities, and the interests of the world community.
Furthermore, Mahmood Yakubu’s continued tenure in office has the potential to open the door to the concealment, falsification, and destruction of crucial material needed to further expose the Commission’s irregularities and violations before the Presidential Election Tribunal.
“This anxiety is demonstrated by INEC’s desperate attempt to modify the BVAS devices in order to delete the critical data they hold.
As a result, the PDP demands that Mahmood Yakubu, the chairman of INEC, resign from his position immediately. Yakubu has abused his position and dashed the hopes of millions of Nigerians, political parties, and the international community for a free, fair, and credible election.
“Nigerians no longer believe Mahmood Yakubu has the skills and moral character to run a delicate democratic institution like INEC.
Mahmood Yakubu’s resignation as INEC chairman will be the first move toward cleaning up the electoral body and winning back Nigerians’ trust, particularly as the country gets ready for the newly planned gubernatorial and state assembly elections on March 18, 2023.
“Moreover, the PDP demands that the inspector general of police and the director-general of the DSS promptly begin investigations into the election violations and manipulations by INEC in order to prosecute Mahmood Yakubu and other commission employees for electoral offenses.
“In a similar vein, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) should launch an inquiry into claims that a number of top INEC officials were gravely financially compromised in order to rig the election,”
