Austine Emmanuel, Kaduna
Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, (AYCF) has described the call for the sack of National Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, by campaigners for electoral sanity and accountability in INEC, as a mere joke.
AYCF dismissed the call in a statement signed and issued to newsmen by its National President, Alhaji Yerima Shettima in Kaduna on Friday, saying the group did not consider the successes recorded so far by the commission under the leadership of the INEC boss.
According to them, 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 therefore there is need for him to continue with his job in other to sustain the tempo.
“We 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, infact they’re attention-seekers.
“The Arewa Citizens for Good Governance did not bother to check how much spectacular achievements INEC 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.
“We advise this group of attention-seekers to stop distracting the INEC Chairman with unsubstantiated allegations. Let the INEC boss be allowed to discharge his responsibilities with the same neutrality that he has been doing 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,” he submitted.