Agbakoba hails suspension of Bawa, Emefiele, wants INEC Chairman, Yakubu, also removed

Olisa Agbakoba, a former president of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) has urged President Bola Tinubu to remove Mahmoud Yakubu as head of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The senior attorney claimed in a statement on Thursday that the 61-year-old INEC chairman must resign or be removed from office in order to avoid impeding Nigeria’s efforts to implement electoral reforms.

In a statement by his Media Assistant, Niyi Odunmorayo, Agbakoba commended the President for “getting rid” Godwin Emefiele as the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); and AbdulRasheed Bawa as the Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Read Also: Agbakoba counsels Tinubu on how to unite Nigerians, demands EFCC, service chiefs’ resignation

Agbakoba said, “Full congratulations go to President Tinubu for getting rid of Emefiele and Bawa and fuel subsidy and forex corruption. Endemic corruption has suffered a massive blow.

“Next is for the president to dismantle INEC. Everyone will agree that logistically, the 2023 elections are the worst in our history. I do not refer to the merits of the results of the elections. Many results are disputed and are in Tribunals. Both petitioners and respondents suffered at the hands of an incompetent INEC.

“As we await rulings from the courts massive reforms of the electoral framework ought to begin but this means that the INEC Chairman will have to leave office by resignation or removal, otherwise the reform task will be impeded.

“I add very quickly that the suggested reforms have nothing to do with the merits of election results at all. Both winners and losers of the elections were victims of the failure of INEC. Confidence in Nigeria’s democracy will be enhanced by a deep cleansing of INEC.”

Earlier, the Department of State Services (DSS) had invited Bawa.

This development follows President Bola Tinubu’s approval of Bawa’s indefinite suspension “to allow for proper investigation into his conduct while in office”.

Also, Emefiele was picked up hours after President Bola Tinubu suspended him from office on June 10, 2023.

Following his suspension, Emefiele was directed to immediately hand over the affairs of his office to the Deputy Governor (Operations Directorate), Adebisi Shonubi who will act as the CBN governor pending the conclusion of the investigation and the reforms.

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