The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum ( AYCF) has described as ” misguided ” the call for the sack of the National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.
The youth group in a statement signed by the AYCF NationalPresident, Shetima Yerima, said they have followed with keen interest an ongoing smear campaign and the call for the sack of INEC National Chairman by a “group of rabble-rousers masquerading as campaigners for electoral sanity and accountability in INEC, when in fact they’re attention-seekers.”
“As a group of progressive-minded advocates, we totally disagree with the so-called Arewa Coalition calling for the sack of the INEC National Chairman. Our reasons are as follows: The Arewa Citizens for Good Governance did not bother to check how many spectacular achievements INEC had under Prof. Yakubu before their charade of spurious claims and allegations.”
“As a matter of fact, there has never been a comparatively better strategy of Nigerian voter education efforts than the one launched by the leadership of the electoral umpire in recent years.The circumstances under which INEC has been effectively planning, coordinating and generally handling its operations is unprecedented, considering the financial difficulties currently facing Nigeria due to rampaging inflation.”
“The revolution in election results collections, using the BVA and other electronic transmission devices is the first of its kind in Nigeria’s election history. The electoral umpire has proved its neutrality in elections since 2015 when even the current administration lost out in some elections. No manager of the electoral umpire has ever dared to let work so efficiently that even the party in power could lose in some instances.”
“Professor Yakubu has built a name of transparency and accountability in the conduct of elections and efficiency in the choice of his team for all categories of elections over the years and we dare say he would sustain the tempo.”
“We urge Nigerians to ignore the rantings of self-seeking, never-see-good groups seeking to distract a dedicated public servant like Prof Yakubu from sustaining the tempo of his wonderful contributions to deepening Nigeria’s democracy.”
The Areaa Youth group advised this group of attention-seekers to stop distracting the INEC Chairman with unsubstantiated allegations.
” Let the umpire boss be allowed to discharge his responsibilities with the same neutrality that he has been doing so for years. We are confident that the Professor is set to etch his name in gold, in the annals of Nigeria’s democratic history and no misguided attack on his person or the umpire can change that,” they said.
