It is useless for the INEC chair to promise credible elections for the government: Atiku’s aide
Mr. Phrank Shaibu, the Special Assistant on Public Communication for the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has informed the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, that it is pointless to promise to deliver credible governorship polls by ensuring that INEC officials who were found wanting during the presidential election will be barred from engaging in the March 11 governorship poll. The presidential election took place on February 23.
During a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners that took place on Saturday, Yakubu made a commitment to ensure the rigorous implementation of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System.
The chairman of INEC made the following statement: “Every staff member found to be negligent, regardless of whether they are regular or ad hoc officials, including collation and returning officers, must not be involved in the upcoming elections.” Additionally, RECs are required to initiate disciplinary action without delay whenever there is prima facie evidence that an offense has been committed.
An aide to Atiku issued a statement on Sunday in which he criticized the assurances given by Yakubu as being pointless and unconvincing.
He went on to say that the chairman of INEC was only trying to cover his tracks after being responsible for the worst elections that Nigeria had ever seen since the country’s independence.
After the dubious performance of INEC in the elections on February 25, he cautioned Yakubu against making any further attempts to mislead the Nigerian people.
In addition, he complimented the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, for acknowledging that the elections fell far short of the expectations that the Nigerian people had for them.
In the statement, it was stated that the chairman of INEC is nothing more than a hypocrite. After making the pledge to upload the results from polling units in real time, he either allowed himself to be used in the process of subverting the will of Nigerians or he used himself to carry out the subversion. You will be shocked to learn that even though it has been seven days since the election, the complete results have not yet been uploaded to the result viewing portal maintained by INEC.
“The election was so poor that it did not live up to the expectations of Nigerians, as stated by a number of international media outlets and observers, as well as by the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard. Instead of apologizing, the chairman of INEC is attempting to shift blame for what happened.
“After INEC’s dismal performance at the fraudulent election that took place on February 25, he is now attempting to save face by insisting that errant staff will be punished and will not be deployed in the governorship election that will take place on March 11. This is complete and utter nonsense. Is the INEC planning on retraining new staff within the next five days to replace the individuals who have been labeled as “errant”? Is he planning to hire new employees or bring some of them in from outer space?
According to earlier reports, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has confirmed that the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, has been returned elected as the President-elect from the presidential election that took place on Saturday, February 25.
Shaibu, on the other hand, suggested that the chairman of INEC should be “man enough to own up to his failure,” adding that there are already “over 300,000 Nigerians who have signed a petition on Change.org to demand that the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe place a visa ban on the INEC chairman.”
