From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
Following the controversy that has trailed the outcome of the February 25 presidential election, the Middle Belt Forum (MBF) has joined voices in calling for the resignation of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, before the next election.
The regional group said in the event the INEC boss failed to tender his resignation, President Muhammadu Buhari should summarily sack him.
The National President of the group, Dr Pogu Bitrus, made the call in a press statement released on Wednesday.
The group commended the decision by the presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), Atiku Abubakar and the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi to seek redress in court.
The group explained that the region supported the candidacy of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, in the last presidential polls based on the sense of justice, equity and fair play.
“We call on the INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu to toe the honourable path by resigning his position before the next election. His frittering away of tens of billions of Naira on a technology that he did not intend to use makes him unfit to continue to maintain his position.
“In the event that Professor Yakubu failed to tender his resignation after this press release, President Muhammadu Buhari should summarily sack him. We pray that inaction by Mr President and the Presidency will not be seen as complicity in the subversion of the will of Nigerians in the electoral heist of 25th February 2023, a preposition we will prefer not to be correct.
“As political parties and candidates head to the Election Petition Tribunal, we strongly urge the Judges to remain on the side of JUSTICE and ensure the wheel of justice is not compromised.
“The Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Obi, and the Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, have resolved to approach the Presidential Elections Petition Tribunal and so we await the outcome of their challenge.
However, we wish to advise that the Courts should act at all times in a manner their decisions will not be seen as subverting the will of the people as many Nigerians point at the Uzodinma and Machina cases as decisions they cannot understand.
Apart from the brazen refusal by INEC to comply with its own Guidelines, the Electoral Act and the Constitution, the conduct of the Commission on Election Day was fraught with deliberately orchestrated logistical challenges, as shown by the late arrival of materials as well as INEC staff at polling units, harassment of voters in opposition strongholds to suppress votes, fraudulent thumb printing of ballot papers by INEC officials leading to the death of an INEC staff at Lugbe, in the FCT, among other infractions.
We express great disappointment in the collation officers that took charge of 8,816 Wards, 774 LGAs and the 37 States who, instead of strengthening the institution, only made a mockery of themselves.
We commend the courageous men and women who stood for justice, particularly within the Middle Belt enclaves of our 14 states and the FCT, in order to ensure the will of our people prevailed.”
On why the group supported by the Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, MBF said: “The basis of the support of the peoples of the Middle Belt for His Excellency, Mr Peter Obi, in the last presidential election was in line with our sense of justice, equity and fair play.
“The shared understanding by the political elite in Nigeria that presidential power oscillates between Southern and Northern Nigeria had ensured that the South West and the South-South geo-political zones had been in the saddle at the Presidential level at different times since the return of civil rule in May 1999, leaving out only the South East.
“On the basis of fairness and inclusivity, it was imperative for the South East to produce the next president of Nigeria from Southern Nigeria. This conviction was why the Middle Belt was the first to hold a rally in support of Mr Obi in Jos, Plateau State, in 2022.
“The Middle Belt was therefore in the trenches, shoulder to shoulder, with all lovers of justice, and equity on the 25th February 2023. Middle Belters, irrespective of their ethnic, religious and political persuasions, spoke with one loud voice in support of the Labour Party’s Presidential Candidate and, despite the open brigandage under the watch of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in cahoots with the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“Plateau State, Nasarawa State and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) were impregnable fortresses against these anti-democratic forces, evil merchants of divisiveness who did all in their powers to undermine the will of the people.”