The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has shunned the call by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the resignation of chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu saying it is misplaced and irresponsible.
The chief press secretary to the INEC chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, said, “The latest call by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), just like it did previously for the resignation of Prof. Mahmood Yakubu as chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is misplaced.
Oyekanmi said, “The PDP did not provide any convincing evidence to back up all the spurious allegations it listed as Prof. Yakubu’s “infractions”.
To be sure, he said the PDP failed to provide any evidence to substantiate the allegations of Yakubu’s “brazen violation of the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, INEC’s Regulations and Guidelines, and criminal manipulation and alteration of election results”.
He said the PDP also did not give the evidence to prove its claims that Prof. Yakubu “sabotaged the uploading and transmission of results from polling units.”
Oyekanmi said “several evidences” that the PDP claimed “abound in the six geo-political zones of the country where winning figures scored by the PDP were switched in favour of the APC” were also not laid bare.
To be sure, he said the Commission does not rig elections.
Rather, he said the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) has, since its introduction, among other innovations, ensured the integrity of the electoral process by ensuring that only properly registered voters are allowed to vote on Election Day.
He said, “It is common knowledge that the PDP has rejected the outcome of the presidential election and has vowed to challenge it in court.
“The path of honour for the party, therefore, is to pursue its case in court, armed with all the evidences at its disposal, and wait for the court’s decision.
“But going about canvassing the same issues the party intends to plead in court on the pages of newspapers and calling for the resignation of the INEC Chairman is like putting the cart before the horse.”
He reminded the PDP that making libelous allegations against the person of the INEC chairman is actionable.
“The party should henceforth desist from the practice,” he added.
