Ethnic youth leaders in the country have accused some senators loyal to some All Progressives Congress (APC) governors of plotting to ensure the removal of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, ahead of the 2023 general elections.
The youths under the aegis of the Nigerian Ethnic Youths Leaders Council (NEYLC), therefore, warned those allegedly fingered in the move to desist from it.
Saturday Sun had exclusively reported that some politicians were moving against Yakubu over INEC’s insistence on using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in next year’s general elections.
As part of the plans, the politicians were said to be planning to instigate the National Assembly to pass a vote of no confidence, which could lead to Yakubu’s suspension or removal.
But the NEYLC, which is made up of the Arewa Consultative Youths Movement (ACYM), Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youths Movement, Oduduwa Youths and Middle Belt Youths, made their position known in a statement by the Ohanaeze Youth Movement Secretary-General and Head of the coalition’s secretariat, Nwada Ike Amaka.
The group said that the plan to use the Senate to shake Yakubu so that he could jettison the use of BVAS may lead to electoral crisis.
It, therefore, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to call the governors to order so that they don’t truncate the nation’s democracy under his watch.
The statement read: “Credible information available to us through our usual genuine sources has shown that loyalists of Governors Uzodinma and El-Rufai in the Senate are already plotting to ensure the removal of the INEC chairman through the back door.
“We are crying out loud to President Buhari to call all the people involved to order so that they don’t cause unnecessary electoral crisis for the country.
“Let it be known that majority of Nigerians are satisfied with the use of BVAS for elections and no amount of pressure from these self-centred politicians will make INEC change its position on it.
“We are also sounding a note of warning to them to stop distracting Prof Yakubu, but rather allow him to concentrate on his onerous task of delivering credible elections for the country in 2023.
“If they do not desist, we shall not hesitate to mention the names of the senators who have been compromised by these All Progressives Congress (APC) governors to wage war against the INEC chairman.
SUN NEWS
