Criticism of INEC: Give us evidence why Yakubu should be sacked, Lagos Assembly spokesman challenges Obasanjo

IBRAHIM QUADRI

 

The chairman of Lagos State House of Assembly Committee on Information and Strategy, Hon Stephen Ogundipe has challenged former President Olusegun Obasanjo to provide evidence on why the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof Yakubu Mahmood should be sacked.

 

The State Assembly spokesman gave the remark in an interview with our correspondent, noting that Obasanjo being an elder statesman and former President ought to guard his utterances.

 

Hon Ogundipe explained that it was not befitting of a former President to be making inciting statements in the public domain even if he has a fundamental issue to be discussed.

 

According to him, Obasanjo, as a former President, has avenues of engaging President Bola Tinubu on any national issue. Other citizens do not have such privileges.

 

Obasanjo had called for the appointment of a credible leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission at all levels for electoral integrity.

 

He made the call at the weekend via a recorded video address at the Chinua Achebe Leadership Forum at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States.

 

He stated that Nigerians must ensure that the INEC chairman and his staff were thoroughly vetted, adding that the vetting exercise should yield dispassionate, non-partisan, actors with impeccable reputations.

 

He said, “As a matter of urgency, we must make sure the INEC chairperson and his or her staff are thoroughly vetted. The vetting exercise should yield dispassionate, non-partisan, actors with impeccable reputations.

 

“Nigeria must ensure the appointment of new credible INEC leadership at the federal, state, local government and municipal – city, town, and village levels – with short tenures – to prevent undesirable political influence and corruption, and re-establish trust in the electoral systems by its citizens.

 

“The INEC chairperson must not only be absolutely above board, he must also be transparently independent and incorruptible.”

 

Describing the 2023 elections in Nigeria as “a travesty”, Obasanjo stated that following the problem-prone exercise, electoral system reform is now among the top targets for change in Nigeria.

 

He insisted that Nigeria must find a way to prevent electoral interference at every level and protect elections from foreign as well as local malevolent actors.

 

At the local level, Obasanjo stated that Nigeria should implement and enforce clearly defined financial regulations for political campaigns to ensure compliance with financial regulations.

 

He also called for the intensification of activities to prepare and secure the voting infrastructure – such as safeguarding the technology used to collate, transmit, verify, and disperse election results.”

 

But, the lawmaker countered the former President. “It came to us as a surprise because he has so many avenues to discuss issues with the President which a lot of people don’t have.

 

“He ought not to be making inciting statements. A lot of us still hold him in high esteem. So he makes allegations without providing any evidence. Is it every time an opposition party loses an election that the INEC chairman should be sacked? He should be a father for all and that is my personal opinion,” he noted.

 

Continuing, Ogundipe reiterated, “No doubt, electoral body should be made independent and we are living witnesses to what transpired during his tenure as the president when he even tried to manipulate the constitution for third term agenda.”