2023 Election: Protesters Storm Appeal Court, Demand INEC Chairman’s Removal, New Polls

Protesters on Thursday afternoon defied heavy downpour to storm the Appeal Court, venue of the Election Petition Tribunal, to demand the removal and arrest of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Mahmood Yakubu by the Department Security Services, DSS.

The protesters said the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu, did not win the election which was conducted on Saturday 25, February.

INEC had defied calls for a halt on the collation of results by some political parties led by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the Labour Party.

They cited various infractions especially with regards to the non-application of the electronic transmission of results via the IRev.

The election result is been contested in court, the venue protesters besieged on Thursday to register their grievances.

The protesters who were on the platform of the National Youth League for the Defence of Democracy, NYLDD, carried placards with various inscriptions, calling on some foreign embassies in Nigeria to immediately revoke the visas of 15 INEC Resident Electoral Commissioners RECs.

The RECs the protesters listed as those who compromised the election and should be sanctioned are those of Lagos, Rivers, Borno, Zamfara, Niger, Jigawa, Kano and Imo. Others are Ebonyi, Ekiti, Ogun, Oyo, Cross River, Katsina and Edo States.

Led by Dr Moses Paul, they said after the emergence of the interim government, the administration would appoint a new INEC chairman, who should conduct a fresh election to produce a legitimate President for the country.

Speaking to journalists, Paul said, “We are citizens of Nigeria, lovers of Nigeria, standing on the path of our constitution and citizens’ rights.

“We are here particularly to address the greatest crime that has happened in the history of the world and in Nigeria.

“People were burnt in Kano, people were shot in Rivers, and we have seen the greatest inhumanity happen in Lagos state in the course of this election.

“Two demands we are making; we are asking the President of this country to immediately arrest and prosecute the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, who has committed the greatest fraud in the history of humanity.

“We need him arrested and prosecuted.

“Our number two demand is that we are asking that an interim government be put in place. We are saying that, because we do not want President Muhammadu Buhari to continue, his tenure is ending, so as a father he should put in place an interim government so that the interim government will now appoint another INEC chairman who will conduct a free and credible election and produce a befitting President for our country,” he said.

Also speaking on other options, one of the co-conveners, Anngu Orngu, said “We will use every other civil and lawful means to make sure that our demands are met,” as a civil and law abiding group.

He noted, “We are here as frustrated Nigerians and the fundamental rights of Nigerians have been trampled upon by Mahmood Yakubu-led INEC and we are here calling for his immediate resignation.

“We have also requested that DSS arrest him, and he should be prosecuted by the EFCC.

“We have been to the US Embassy, we have been to the British Council in Nigeria, and we have also submitted a letter to the French Embassy, calling on them to advise the Nigerian government that the Nigerian people are not happy.

“We the young people of this country are not happy over what is happening in our country. We may be peaceful now but when you push even a goat to the wall, the goat may bite,” he added.

The group delivered letters to the US embassy where they demanded that Mahmood be sanctioned.