Arewa Group To Petition President Buhari, European Union, Others Over Removal Of INEC Chairman

With less than 140 days to the general election, a northern group identified as Arewa Citizens’ Watch for Good Governance, has insisted on the removal of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.

Naija News learnt that the group has today revealed its intention to petition President Muhammadu Buhari,  the National Assembly, the US Embassy, and the European Union if Yakubu fails to resign or is sacked. The group’s Chairman, Mohammed Adamu while addressing a press conference in Kaduna on Sunday, said the group was calling for the sack of the INEC boss because he and his team at the commission are deliberately working against the north in a bid to suppress voters in the region in 2023. He requested that the INEC Chair and members of his team humbly resign to enable an independent probe into the allegation of the insertion of foreigners’ names in our voters’ register. Adamu said, “Where Prof Mahmood fails to resign, we will be forced to petition President Muhammadu Buhari, the Honourable Minister of Justice, the National Assembly, the US Embassy, the European Union, the British High Commission and other key actors in the electoral process on the danger of retaining the seeming compromised Prof Mahmood Yakubu. “At the instance where we feel our demands are not being treated with needed gloves, we shall be forced to come out in our numbers and occupy all INEC offices in the region, including the national headquarters.” According to him, the INEC boss and his team must go, adding that they have been  “morally compromised”  to go ahead to deliver on the onerous task of conducting free, fair and credible polls in 2023. He maintained that “as a group, we made frantic efforts to get INEC to extend registration in our region following the shutdown of telecommunications networks to enable our armed forces to carry out special operations in most Northwestern and North Central states, which fell on rocky grounds. “The unfolding event is a pointer to one fact: INEC is deliberately working against Arewa, in their satanic ploy to suppress votes from our region, and swell that of Southern Nigeria through the registration of ghosts and foreigners.” Adamu noted that on this premise, Yakubu should not only be removed but also be arrested and prosecuted for his silence over the allegations from opposition political parties that he was under pressure by higher forces, to deactivate the BVAS machine. “Relevant government agencies must arrest and prosecute Prof Mahmood Yakubu for trying to use his office to effect leadership change in our country in a satanic manner, “ he noted. The group, however, vowed to pass a vote of no confidence on the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration if nothing is done about the situation because that will mean it isn’t committed to the delivery of credible elections to Nigerians next year.

This article was originally published on Naija News