Edo 2024: Time for Yakubu to move or be moved

It is very surprising to hear many Nigerians complaining about the just concluded gubernatorial election in Edo State.

People are shouting themselves hoarse in their spirited condemnation of the manner in which the responsible election managers, INEC, handled the collation and announcement of the result.

The general impression one gathered from the Edo State off-season election was that peace ruled and reigned across the state during the election.

The main grouse of several critics however is that the well laid out electoral processes which had been commendably observed during the voting proper suffered a major affliction at the collation stage.

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Purported malfeasance observed by political party agents were reportedly complained about but nothing was done to investigate or address then until the results were announced.

It was the inexplicable rush by INEC to announce the poll result that jolted the citizenry, political parties, candidates, the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) as well as the media who were all bamboozled by the indecent speed with which INEC put out the result when the extant laws allow for a seven-day window to enable INEC to review complaints made to her about the processes, including ballot manipulation and vote buying.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) fell back to its familiar ways of peremptorily inflicting the fatal damage of announcing the questionable result knowing very well that only the courts could now nullify it.

It has the backing of the Supreme Court to do so.

If INEC chairman Professor Mahmoud Yakubu can aver that he and his top officials were not compromised to do what they did, he will have admitted gross incompetence.

A second time! If one recalls the horrible misdemeanor of the 2023 presidential election and the yahoo yahoo of the Supreme Court.

The fact that Yakubu, a University Professor, did not honourably resign after that 2023 debacle in spite of the international opprobrium Nigeria harvested as a result of his shameful performance, showed the level of the lack of integrity and honour by our otherwise elite in the country.

The Nigerian populace, the media and the civil society organizations all kept mute as if charmed by Yakubu and his foot soldiers.

Even the trade union organization of university teachers, ASUU, could not condemn the disgraceful outing of Prof. Yakubu.

So why wouldn’t he do again what he knows best to do?

Never mind all the humongous funds serially approved for him to ensure there were no excuses for not performing.

Those who provided the one-week window for INEC to review their job if and when serious complaints are brought up during vote collation might as well have wasted their time.

Or perhaps the caveat was for Yakubu’s successors to bother themselves about.

If Nigeria has any value for merit and competence, Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu should not be around to superintend over any other election, including the forthcoming Ondo poll.

He has proved incorrigible and a colossal failure.

Let him not be allowed by default to incinerate this country!

The people’s patience and long suffering should not be tested to inelasticity!

Let Yakubu and his bumbling cohorts go now!

• Nnamdi Nwigwe, a veteran journalist wrote in from Owerri. He can be reached via [email protected]; 0803 702 4609