The Young Progressives Congress (YPP) and the Action Democratic Party (ADP) have called on security agencies to investigate the suspended Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Adamawa over his action in the just concluded State’s governorship supplementary election.
The two parties In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja Tuesday, said the purported declaration of winner for Adamawa governorship election by Prof. Hudu Yunusa-Ari, while collation process was still ongoing was condemnable.
YPP National Publicity, Wale Martins, said Yunusa-Ari’s action was condemnable and should not be encouraged, especially at this critical time.
“His action is unlawful. It is something you can only get in a Banana Republic.
“There is nowhere in the Electoral Act or guidelines where RECs are empowered to announce results when they are not the retuning officers for such an election,’’ Martins argued.
He said that beyond the condemnation, security agencies should swing into action to investigate why such illegality should take place bracingly.
“The security agencies should get to the root of the matter so that such thing does not happen again. This potent danger to our democracy.
“If we were not happy with what happened abinitio concerning the lack of transparency in the February 25 and March 18 general elections, I think this a new low,’’ Martins said.
He said what happened In Adamawa demonstrated the need to oversight INEC and review the process of appointing officers into the commission.
“There is a need to see how we can regig INEC, especially in the appointment of electoral officers, RECs and the INEC Chairman.
“If there is anything this has shown, it is that the process leading to their appointments is very key and should not be left in the hand of politicians,” he said.
Martins, however, believed that calling President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene would make little or no impact, as he has few days to leave office.
He said what was important was for Nigerians was to act in ensuring further reform of the Electoral Act if the last reform is not living up to expectations.
“Probably, we politicians have refused to actually change and that would not change anything.
“It behooves on relevant security agencies to investigate this and bring it to logical conclusion to see that justice is done.
“You caught someone red-handed who had breach the constitution and you need the president to talk before relevant security agencies will act?
“It is like you coughing an armed robber robbing people and you need the president to talk before you can stop the robbery. That does not make any sense,’’ he said.
On his part, the National Chairman of ADP, who is the National Chairman of Inter-Party Advisory Council, Sani Yabagi, also called for the investigation of the suspended Adamawa REC.
Yabagi said though noting had been heard from the REC, but what he did was completely at variance with the provisions of the law.
“The law stated that it is only the retuning officer who has the right to declare the result, which means that his action was illegal,” he said.
He said while the REC’s action was completely against the law including the Electoral Act 2022, the election guidelines and other electoral frameworks, there was need for Nigerians to hear why he acted the way he did.
“Of course if you go against the law in bracing manner as the REC has done, we need to hear from him and he has to face the wrath of the law.
“He also deserves a fair hearing by the commission which I believe it is already ongoing. We need to know why he did what he did.
“He is not an ordinary person; the whole of INEC in that state is under him.
“In the trending video he was not alone, he was with the commissioner of police and director of DSS and some other top officers of the agencies were there.
“So, what happened? Why did they operate outside the law.’’
Yabagi said the action justified IPAC’s initial call for the review of the appointments of RECs and chairman into INEC.
“It also questions why the arrangement as provided for in our constitution where Mr President appoints all the heads of the agencies, not only INEC but also the security chiefs.
“That means we should also look at it beyond the REC’s action because these agencies have roles to play in the conduct of the elections,’’ Yabagi said. NAN
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