The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has hit back at those laying curses on Mahmood Yakubu, chairman of the commission, saying they make better use of their time.
According to The Cable, Rotimi Oyekanmi, chief press secretary to the INEC chairman, also admonished those attacking Yakubu to “cure themselves of their visible ignorance of the laws governing the electoral system and the commission’s processes and procedures”.
On February 25, the first year anniversary of the 2023 presidential election, some Nigerians took to social media platforms to rain curses on the electoral commission boss.
The aggrieved youths had alleged that Yakubu rigged the 2023 presidential election for incumbent President Bola Tinubu.
However, Oyekanmi described the 2023 elections as “a huge success and the most painstakingly planned”.
“The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) believes that the 2023 general election was a huge success, despite some challenges that the commission had to grapple with,” he said.
“It was the most painstakingly planned election and for the most part, our plans were successfully executed.
“Just last Friday, we released the official report of the election, which consisted of 526 pages, organised into 14 chapters and fortified with 60 tables, 14 boxes and 10 graphs. There is a lot to chew in the report.
“And for the first time ever in Nigeria’s electoral history, the 2023 elections unveiled unprecedented political diversity, with four political parties capturing gubernatorial seats, effectively breaking the duopoly that has long dominated the political scene.
“Besides, seven parties won senatorial seats, eight secured federal constituencies and nine were successful in state legislatures.
“While the report emphasises the significant impact of technological advancements on the integrity of the electoral process, especially the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) which reduced electoral fraud and bolstered the credibility of elections, the document also explained the challenges encountered with the INEC result viewing (IReV) portal during the presidential election.”
“With the report now in the public domain, we expect stakeholders to interrogate it and offer useful advice on how we can further improve the electoral system.”
He added that: “As for those persons who embarked on what they described as a ‘a day of curses’, my advice is that they should pay adequate attention to substantive issues, make more productive use of their time, and cure themselves of their visible ignorance of the laws governing the electoral system and the commission’s processes and procedures”.
