Pro-Obi Group Asks Buhari to Dismiss INEC Chairman

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

A pro-Peter Obi group, Restoration of Stolen Mandate Assembly (ROSMA) asked President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately sack the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu for gross misconduct, abuse of office, lack of competence and integrity.

The Director General of the group, Mr. Daniel Gambo made the call while addressing a press conference yesterday in Abuja.

He noted that contrary to the clear provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 and the regulations and guidelines for the conduct of elections, 2022, INEC committed the most fundamental, suicidal and unpardonable infractions by conducting the worst election in the history of Nigeria, which significantly undermined the legitimacy, transparency and credibility of the entire electoral process and the outcome.

Gambo stressed that the purported declaration of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the president-elect and the issuance of certificate of return constituted the worst abuse of democracy in Nigeria as it did not represent the will of majority of the voters and also falls short of the requirements of the Constitution.

He insisted that Tinubu who had been declared President- elect did not, by INEC’s own result, scored up to 25 percent of the votes cast in the Federal Capital Territory.

He explained that it therefore ultra-vires the powers of INEC and was unconstitutional to declare him winner and issue him with a certificate of return as INEC has done.

Gambo stressed that from all the data received from verifiable and credible sources, it is beyond reproach that the presidential candidate of the Labour Party actually won the 2023 presidential election having met the constitutional requirement.

His words: “We call on the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari GCFR, to immediately sack Yakubu for gross misconduct, abuse of office and lack of competence and integrity and to appoint a competent Nigerian to replace him to conduct the remaining elections.

“We request the Inspector General of Police, the Chairman of EFCC, ICPC and other relevant security organisations to carry out immediate and holistic investigations into the conduct of the 2023 general election for causing our beloved country this monumental local and international embarrassment and opprobrium.

“We call on the judiciary especially the justices of the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Nigeria to uphold their oaths of office and be independent and impartial in the discharge of their judicial duties and where the petitioners prove their petitions toe the paths of the courts in Kenya in 2017 and in Malawi in 2020 to overturn the flawed elections.”

The group warned that it would not hesitate to take more compelling and stringent actions including mobilising Nigerians, particularly the youths all over the country and in the diaspora to embark on unprecedented mass protests or rallies and occupy critical national facilities, especially the premises of INEC if its requests are not granted.