By Ekuson Nw’Ogbunka
Abuja
The former chairman of Police Service Commission (PSC), Chief Simon Okeke has not only called for cancellation of 2023 general election, for what he described as fraud to democracy, but also for the immediate removal of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu.
He granted interview to this media organisation in Abuja yesterday.
The Prof Mahmoud Yakubu – led INEC has started election and collating of results right from February the 25th, 2023 and later announced the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Sen Ahmed Bola Tinubu as the winner of the election, an announcement and conduct that didn’t go down well with some Nigerians and the opposition parties of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP).
At an interview with the elder stateman in Abuja yesterday said: “This election is a total mess, cheous and a matter of piece of fraud committed against Nigeria by the INEC. When I say INEC, the response should rest on the INEC chairman. The reason is that the votes are supposed to count, but they are being manipulated by the umpire.
“The way forward is the cancellation, dismissal of the INEC chairman and his replacement with another, because nothing good will come out of him. We shouldn’t stop at removing and replacing him with another, but we shall also put him on trial for the blunder he has committed and he should accept the monumental fraud he has committed against the nation, especially the youths who spoke out loudly for a change from the old people who have been living from the fruits of political fraud over the years and always buying their positions, ranging from the assembly, governorship, among others and refused to accept the change being demanded by the youths for a brighter future.”
He continued: “You can see that the youths have spoken all over the country, through their votes, devoid of ethnicity, and tribe. From the south to the north, they spoke eloquently, but INEC stiff – neckedly is trying to truncate their genuine move to change the country positively. So positive change demanded by the youths in all the geopolitical zones must be respected.”
On his take for going to court as is being suggested by other Nigerians, Chief Okeeke however noted that the judiciary was very tortuous. He added that it would be very enormously costly to cancel the election, but was quick to say: “Let it be done, the fraud shouldn’t be allowed to remain.”
Still justifying the need for the removal of the INEC chairman and cancellation of the election, Okeke, however, said: “I am glad that the two major parties have called for cancellation. Also, the two very respected ex-presidents of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, supported Abdulsalmi Abubakar. They both are for total cancellation and fresh elections to be made. Even international observers faulted the conduct of INEC in the conduct of the excise. So the answer to the problem is to do a fresh election; amending the existing one will lead to errors.”
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Also calling for the cancellation of the election was former Governor Okwesilieze Nwodo of Enugu state, who saw everything as a complete fraud.
It would also be recalled that the Nigerian Labour Congress has called for the cancellation of the election through an interview its newly elected national president, Joe Ajaero granted the AIT yesterday. He also threatened to demonstrate against what he described as electoral fraud and denial of people their rights to cast their votes to candidates of their choice.