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From Kenneth Udeh, Abuja
The United Nigerians in the Diaspora (UND) leadership has announced plans for widespread street protests at Nigerian embassies in Washington DC, several other US cities, London, and various major cities in Europe and Asia to push for the immediate resignation of Senate President, Godswill Akpabio and the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmoud Yakubu.
The diaspora group pointed out that the INEC chairman should resign over what it described as the conduct of a shambolic 2023 general elections while Akpabio should step aside over the allegation of budget padding raised against him by Sen. Abdul Ningi
In a statement, yesterday, in Abuja by its President worldwide, Ambassador Yusuf Adeyinka, and its general secretary worldwide, Johnson Acheme, the group solicited co-operation of the international community during the protest periods, and also urged foreign nations who practise ideal democracy like the Great Britain, the United States and other nations of the world to bar the INEC Chairman and his team members, Akpabio, and indeed, the top echelon of the Nigerian judiciary, who partook in deciding the 2023 elections petitions tribunal matters, from entering their countries.
The group also commended Ningi for his courage to expose budget padding in the National Assembly.
“We, the leadership of United Nigerians in the Diaspora (UND), an umbrella body of diaspora groups comprising of Nigerians living in the United Kingdom, the United States of America, some European and Asian nations, wish to alert Nigerians and the entire international community on our resolve to hit the streets and Nigerian embassies in Washington DC, some other US cities, London and other major cities in Europe and Asia, where our members are domiciled to protest the conduct of a shambolic 2023 general elections by the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmoud Yakubu and his rogue team.
“As a body, we have carefully watched the antecedents and actions of the National Chairman vis-a-vis the current happenings and realities in Nigeria and wonder what he is still waiting for to resign from that position. To put the records straight, the 2023 elections where the ineptly corrupt Commission claimed it spent a whooping N300 Billion was not only the most expensive but also the most incredible in our recent history.
“We recall first and foremost how the National Chairman and his Commissioner then in charge of Public Affairs, Dr. Festus Okoye, graced every available national and international platforms, assuring Nigerians and the rest of the world of a most transparent election, using the Biometric Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines that would automatically transmit elections results and data from the various polling units across the country to the Commission’s central server.
“These rather noble technological innovations were applauded as we all believed it would curb the electoral manipulations and malpractices, which our electoral system has been known with through the manual accreditation and collation of elections results.”
According to the statement, the most disconcerting is the fact that the said Professor Mahmoud is yet being strategically positioned by the Tinubu administration to possibly perfect another fraudulent charade in the guise of elections for the incumbent government in 2027.
“For emphasis, this global body, while commending some of the Northern senators like Ningi for their courage to speak up on the alleged padding of N3 trillion into the initially approved N25 trillion by the President gives the Senate President, Akpabio only 48 hours to honourably resign his position and face immediate prosecution. Should he fail to heed, we encourage members of the National Assembly to immediately commence a process of his impeachment as he has manifestly demonstrated incapacity, corruption and collusion with the executive arm of government he was ordinarily elected to checkmate in line with the principles of checks and balances as enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution.
“We also knock the Nigerian judiciary for stamping the fraud and illegality dubbed 2023 elections by Yakubu and his cohorts. That arm of government has since then lost the honour, dignity and respect of many Nigerians, who had relied on it, as ordinarily the last hope of the common man, to remedy the wrongs and defects in the 2023 elections.”
The group, however, resolved to “commence peaceful protests in major cities and embassies in Washington DC, New York, London, Paris and numerous other cities, where our members reside in their numbers. Through messages on our placards, we shall insist on the immediate resignation of the INEC Chairman, Mahmoud Yakubu and respectively, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
“We shall continue our global protests and will not quit or stop until Yakubu and Akpabio resign their positions as the Chairman of the NEC and as President of the senate. We also urge the United Nations, the European Union and other world bodies, to stop them from making or getting any form of international honour, recognition or participating in its activities and engagements.
“Finally, we solicit the usual cooperation of the international community during these periods and also urge foreign nations who practise ideal democracy like the Great Britain, the United States and other nations of the world to bar the corrupt INEC Chairman and his rogue team members, Senate President, Akpabio, and indeed, the top echelon of the Nigerian judiciary, who partook in deciding the 2023 elections petitions tribunal matters from entering their countries. They should confiscate their international passports, those of their wives and families, and ensure there is no hiding place for the Nigerian 2023 election robbers, and their accomplices or their obviously corrupt enablers.”
