Middle Belt Forum demands INEC chairman’s resignation over botched e-transmission of poll results

In the aftermath of the postponement of the governorship elections, the Middle Belt Forum (MBF) has demanded the resignation of Prof Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The President of MBF, Dr. Pogu Bitrus, made the call in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday, citing the commission’s inability to transmit election results electronically.

According to Bitrus, this was 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.

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“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 had postponed the governorship and state houses of assembly elections by one week.

The elections earlier scheduled for Saturday 11 March will now hold on Saturday 18 March, the commission said in 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 25th February.

The statement said the postponement was to make for adequate timing to reconfigure the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) ahead of the governorship and state assembly polls.

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