Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has requested the resignation of Mahmood Yakubu, the chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC).
Bola Tinubu, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was proclaimed the winner of the election with 8,794,726 votes, edging out Atiku, who received 6,984,520 votes, and Peter Obi, Labour Party Candidate, who received 6,101,533 votes.
In a meeting with resident electoral commissioners (RECs) in Abuja on Saturday, the chairwoman of INEC conceded that a number of difficulties, including technology, delays by election officials, and the attitudes of political party agents, jeopardized the outcome of the 25 February elections.
He stated that officials guilty for the violations would be excluded from the gubernatorial election and disciplined accordingly.
However, in a statement released on Sunday, Atiku, through his special assistant on public communication, Phrank Shaibu, claimed that INEC’s chairman is attempting to deflect blame rather than accept responsibility for the irregularities that occurred during the presidential and national assembly elections.
Shaibu stated, “The INEC chairman is nothing but a hypocrite.”
“After pledging to upload the results from polling stations in real time, he allowed himself to be exploited, or he used himself to subvert Nigerians’ will.
“It will surprise you to learn that seven days after the conclusion of the election, the complete results have not yet been uploaded to INEC’s result viewing page.
“The election was so poor that it failed to satisfy the expectations of Nigerians, as reiterated by a number of international media sources, observers, and the U.S. ambassador, Mary Beth Leonard. Instead than apologizing, the INEC chairman is attempting to shift blame.
“Following INEC’s appalling performance in the sham election on February 25, he is now attempting to preserve face by declaring that delinquent staff will be disciplined and will not be deployed in the governorship election on March 11.
This is complete bullshit. Is INEC intending to train new personnel within five days to replace the allegedly incompetent ones? Will he recruit new personnel or deploy personnel from outer space?
“Professor Yakubu should have the courage to admit his failure. In the same way that a fish rots from the head down, the INEC has also deteriorated.
“Rather than suspending staff members, the chairman of INEC must resign as his first act of repentance. Already, over 300,000 Nigerians have signed a Change.org petition demanding that the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe impose a visa block on the INEC chairman. This demonstrates the widespread sentiment among Nigerians. Prof. Yakubu ought to cover his face in shame.”
