A former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo has called for the sack of Mahmood Yakubu as INEC Chairman, and other top officers of the commission.
Obasanjo, made the call at the Chinua Achebe Leadership Forum, Yale University, in the United States in honour of the late Nigerian writer.
“As a matter of urgency, we must ensure the INEC Chairperson and their staff are thoroughly vetted. The vetting exercise should produce dispassionate, non-partisan actors with impeccable reputations.
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Nigeria must ensure the appointment of new credible INEC leadership at the federal, state, local government, and municipal – city, town, and village – levels, with short tenures to prevent undesirable political influence and corruption, and to re-establish trust in the electoral system by its citizens,” he said.
Obasanjo also described the 2023 general election as a “travesty”, adding that the reform of the electoral system is a key agenda for the country.
This omission, Obasanjo alleged, led to widespread voting irregularities.
“The BVAS and IReV are two technological innovations that, prior to 2023, were celebrated for their potential to enhance the accuracy and transparency of our election results, eliminate the threat of election rigging, and boost public trust in electoral outcomes.
“These technologies were touted by the INEC chairman himself. In the end, these technologies did not fail. INEC willfully failed to use or implement them, which resulted in widespread voting irregularities. It was a case of inviting the fox into the henhouse,” Obasanjo stated.
