By Babalola Seyi
Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, has been requested to retire by the Southern and Middle Belt Alliance if free, fair, and credible elections cannot be held.
The group also urged leaders of organizations in charge of conducting free, fair, and credible elections to resign immediately if they are unable to ensure Nigerians that the gubernatorial elections on March 11 would be free, fair, and credible.
In a statement published on Tuesday and signed by its spokesperson, Prince Rwang Pam Jr., SaMBA ordered the INEC chairman, the Inspector General of Police, the Director of the Department of State Service, and members of the different electoral tribunals to reassure Nigerians or resign honorably.
The group lamented that the failure of INEC, the police and DSS to “competently perform their constitutional duties” during the February 25, presidential and National Assembly elections “have not only brought international disgrace to Nigeria but equally failed to protect the mandate of millions of Nigerians.”
It noted that Nigerians need a commitment that transcends verbal promises, noting that the instances of bullying, intimidation of voters and snatching and destruction of electoral materials in various polling units across the country in the presence of security agencies indicated gross incompetence on the part of the police whose primary responsibility is to protect lives and property.
The statement read partly, “After a week of such daylight destruction and intimidation, neither the NPF nor the DSS has paraded any of the political thugs or their sponsors as a demonstration of their commitment towards defending the integrity of the electoral process.
“Consequently, millions of Nigerian taxpayers and the international community are fast losing confidence in the sincerity of these security agencies.”
The organization also chastised the INEC chairman and his commissioners for “conducting an election that has been overwhelmingly condemned as not being free, fair, or credible by foreign and local observers, as well as the majority of Nigerians.”
Nonetheless, SaMBA pointed out that the gubernatorial and state Houses of Assembly elections on Saturday give INEC with an opportunity to rehabilitate itself.
The statement read, “It is therefore expected that the commission should by now publicly expunge its temporary and permanent staff and agents who are suspected to have been either compromised or incompetent.
“Bold actions like these are likely to assure Nigerians that their votes would count during the March 11, 2023 state elections. INEC has a moral responsibility to buy back the confidence and trust of the Nigerian electorate. Merely stating that those bad eggs within INEC or its representatives will be taken off the electoral process indicates that the commission is yet to appreciate the magnitude of its failures during the Presidential and National Assembly elections.
“INEC must prove to Nigerians and the international community that it had not deliberately compromised the presidential elections by explaining convincingly and truthfully, why results in isolation failed to upload on the INEC server as repeatedly promised by the commission – what the problem was and steps it has taken to ensure that all results will be uploaded during this weekend’s elections.
“At this point in Nigeria’s history owing to current realities on ground, this country cannot afford any deliberate action that has the tendency to derail the successful conduct of free, fair and credible elections. If the IG of Police feels that he is not well equipped or competent enough to safeguard the public, INEC staff and electoral materials on March 11, then he should resign and let someone else take over.
“If the INEC boss feels that he cannot conduct free, fair and credible elections, he should resign.
“If members of post elections tribunals feel that they are not ready to be objective and to give Nigerians justice without fear, favour or compromise, such members should kindly resign.”
SaMBA called on all Nigerians to remain calm and vigilant “as we approach the concluding part of the 2023 elections.” It charged “all Nigerians of voting age to come out en-masse to vote in fresh, honest and visionary State Governors and State Assembly members that will move the states forward.
“They should keep sentiments aside and elect only those who truly have the capacity and intention to move their respective states from consumption to production so that their states and Nigeria at large can witness a new lease of life,” the statement concluded.
