*urges government to probe voters register before election
By; AMOS TAUNA, Kaduna
A group, Arewa Citizens’ Watch for Good Governance (ACWGG), has called for the resignation of the National chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu and his management team, to give room for independent probe into allegation of insertion of foreigners names in the country’s voters register.
Mohammed Grema Adamu, the chairman of Arewa Citizens’ Watch for Good Governance (ACWGG), in a statement issued on Sunday in Kaduna, said, “That Prof Yakubu and members of his team should humbly resign so as to enable independent probe into allegation of insertion of foreigners names in our voters register.”
According to the statement, on 15th September, 2022, one Ikenga Ugochinyere Michael addressed a world press titled “Omuma Magic” wherein he alleged that 15,000 foreign names were registered in the rural village of the Governor of Imo State, Sen. Hope Uzodinma, saying that the electoral treason was carried out in over 18 states that would help generate 10 million fake votes using preloaded fake accreditation.
The statement saif that he (Ikenga Ugochinyere Michael) further alleged that scanned passports photos and burial pictures were used to register voters in most local government areas in Imo State and asked, “how come people had access to INEC system to enable them scan and upload passports?”
It explained that Mr Ikenga attributed the allegation to the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).
On October 12, 2022, the statement said, Mr Ikenga alongside his boys organized another press conference under the guise of CUPP, CSO and Coalition of Ethnic Nationalities that was aired TV stations, alleging that political parties and opposition leaders have uncovered plots and pressure on INEC to deactivate BVAS from their server and force top INEC officials and the chairman out of office, alleging that the introduction of BVAS in the Osun, Anambra and Ekiti elections has been able to improved the credibility of the elections, as perennial problems associated with snatching of result sheets and changing of results at collation centres has been solved.
The statement noted that Ikenga and his co-travelers failed to acknowledged and commend the APC dominated National Assembly for legalizing the electronic transmission of result and also, President Muhammadu Buhari, who has been giving INEC all the needed supports to enable them deliver credible election.
The group, however, lamented the unholy silence from the INEC Chairman and his team, believing that after Ikenga’s first allegation of treason, they must have reached out to him and furnished him with the baseless and unfounded allegation of pressure to compromised 2023 General Elections.
The statement said, “As a group, we made frantic efforts to get INEC to extend registration in our region following the shut down of telecommunications networks to enable our armed forces carry out special operation in most Northwestern and North Central states, which fell on rocky grounds. The unfolding events, 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.”
The group also believed that the bulk stops on the INEC Chairman’s office, hence, the weighty allegation of “Criminal Electoral Treason” leveled against him by Mr Ikenga and his co-travelers must not be swept aside, urging relevant government agencies to arrest and prosecute Prof Mahmood Yakubu for trying to use his office to effect leadership change in the country in what it called “a satanic manner”.
The group urged Mr Ikenga to stop blowing hot and cold at the same and can not accuse INEC of adulterating the voters register, and coming again to cry wolf that INEC officials are under pressure to resign.
The group, therefore, passed a vote of confidence on President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration commitment to deliver credible election come 2023 as he has done in other states during the off season election.
The group opined that where Prof Mahmood fails to resign, they would be forced to petition President Muhammadu Buhari, Minister of Justice, the National Assembly, US Embassy; European Union; 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 region, including the National Headquarters,” the statement stressed.
