…Says Commission has done huge damage
From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
For supervising what it described as a terribly-flawed 2023 presidential election, the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council has called for the immediate sack and probe of the Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.
The Director General of the Obi-Datti PCC, Akin Osuntokun, at a media briefing on Thursday, called for a forensic audit of the humongous funds allotted to INEC to prosecute the election; which turned out shambolic.
According to him, INEC’s excuse of technical glitches having received fat resources for the February 25 elections was totally unacceptable.
Osuntokun said the INEC boss must be made to account for the failure of his commission to carry out credible elections, which has vandalized the nation’s electoral architecture.
He stated that Yakubu’s prosecution should be patterned after the Adamawa State Resident Electoral Commissioner, whose detention and continuing trial are related to his conduct during the most recent elections.
“After all, what the Adamawa State REC did was similar to what the INEC Chairman did on a larger scale”, he said.
Osuntokun said that the results of the presidential election, as proclaimed by INEC, fell short of international standards and that reports from all election observer groups, both domestically and overseas, were unanimous in their assessments that the election was seriously tainted.
He condemn vehemently, the negative and jaundiced responses on the EU Report and other Election Observers’ reports, by the Spokesperson of APC administration and other ill-informed persons, which he said are totally in discord, with the mood of the nation, at this time, and which also, present an embarrassing contrast, to their selective celebration of the 2019 Election reports, from these same Observer groups.
“We advice that those who have deployed hired ‘protesters’ to the offices of the EU, in respect of their election report, desist from any further wastage of public funds, as the objective of intimidation is without basis, and has failed, from the beginning – because indeed, the irregularities in the election, were so excessively glaring, with bitter personal and reported experiences, by the overwhelming majority of Nigerians.
“At this juncture, there is no doubt that Nigerians and the International Community expect the Judiciary to critically examine the evidence, the law, and the processes of these flawed elections, in arriving at a legally correct, and overwhelmingly knowledgeable verdict.
“We would like to point Nigerians, to the fact, that the EU Observer group report, is in tandem with the reports of other international and domestic observers, duly accredited by INEC, and also in tandem, with public opinion and the experience of the majority of Nigerian citizens, who participated in, or observed the 2023 general elections”, he noted.