Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja
Protesters under the aegis of National Youth League for the Defence of Democracy (NYLDD) Thursday in Abuja demanded the immediate arrest and prosecution of the Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.
The protesters also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to put in place an interim government that would conduct fresh elections before he leaves office on May 29.
The protesters in their numbers matched from Unity Fountain to the Court of Appeal, saying the protest was a continuation of the one held on Wednesday.
The protesters were armed with various placards with inscriptions like: ‘Mahmood is the glitch on INEC website’; ‘Stop the violence; ‘Fake results cannot stand’; ‘Nigeria is not a zoo’; ‘Nigerians not for sale, we stand for justice’; ‘Democracy not INECcracy’; ‘Buhari Cancel Sham election’; ‘Voter Suppression is a crime’; ‘Bring back IReV, no IReV no collation’; ‘INEC must reverts to polling units results’; ‘Give us Interim government and arrest INEC chairman’; ‘Buhari prove that you have integrity, sack Mahmood now’; ‘If we accept 2023 elections, how do we tell armed robbers and kidnappers that what they are doing is wrong’.
Addressing journalists, one of the leaders of the group, Dr. Moses Paul, said they took to protest to address the greatest crime that had happened in the history of the world and in Nigeria.
He said: “People were burnt in Kano, people were shot in Rivers, we have seen the greatest inhumanity happened in Lagos state in the course of this election.
“Two demands we are making: we are asking the President of this country to arrest immediately and prosecute the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, who has committed the greatest fraud in the history of humanity. We need him arrested and prosecuted.
“Our number two demand is that we are asking for an interim government to be put in place. We are saying that because we do not want President Muhammadu Buhari to continue, his tenure is ending, so as a father he should put in place an interim government so that the interim government will now appoint another INEC chairman who will conduct a free and credible election and produce a befitting President for our country.”
Asked what would be their next line of action if their demands were not met, Paul said they would continue with their protest until their demands are met.
On his part, another leader of the group, Anngu Orngu, said they would use every other civil and lawful means to make sure that their demands are met.
He added: “We are here as frustrated Nigerians and the fundamental rights of Nigerians have been trampled upon by Mahmood Yakubu-led INEC and we are here calling for his immediate resignation, we have also requested that DSS should arrest him, and he should be prosecuted by the EFCC.
“We are calling on DSS to arrest Mahmood immediately, the EFCC should investigate him and we are also calling on the Nigerian Judiciary because those concerned are already in court, particularly the presidential election of February 25th, we are calling on the judges in Nigeria that we want justice to prevail.
“We have been to the US Embassy, we have been to the British Council in Nigeria, and we have also submitted letter to the French embassy, calling on them to advise the Nigerian government that the Nigerian people are not happy. We the young people of this country are not happy over what is happening in our country. We may be peaceful now but when you push even a goat to the wall, the goat may bite,” he said
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