The Middle Belt Forum (MBF) has asked Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Mahmood Yakubu, to resign his appointment in the wake of the postponement of the governorship and State Assembly elections.
The President of MBF, Dr. Pogu Bitrus, made the call through a statement in Abuja on Wednesday, condemning the commission’s inability to transmit election results electronically.
According to Bitrus, the situation is tantamount to subverting the will of Nigerians, adding: “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 Professor Yakubu failed to tender his resignation after this press statement, 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 February 25, 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.
“At a time like this when the din, orchestrated by undemocratic forces, seeks to suppress the will of Nigerians, it becomes absolutely imperative to place on record for posterity the basis for the decisions and actions of men and women of conscience.”
INEC has postponed the governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections by one week.
The elections earlier scheduled for Saturday, March 11, will now hold on Saturday March 18, the commission disclosed through a statement by its spokesperson, Festus Okoye, on Wednesday night.
The first round of the elections – the presidential and national assembly elections held as scheduled, on February 25, 2023.
The statement said the postponement is to make for adequate timing to reconfigure the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) ahead of the March 18 polls.