Reactions have continued to trail comments by the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Yakubu Maikyau SAN, praising INEC’s conduct of the 2023 Presidential and National Assembly elections which held last week.
On Channels TV Program last week, Maikyau was quoted as saying “I would say that the elections went well.
Those who came out were happy to express their franchise. There were challenges, definitely; there were challenges that we got, some infractions. Some of them actually constituted electoral offences. But on the whole, on the whole, I will score INEC as having performed maybe about 78, 80 percent in the delivery of these elections. That will be an A for every exam, notwithstanding all the things that happened – which we are not ignoring.”
Former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Prof Chidi Odinkalu has also joined the chain of reactions to the NBA President’s comments.
According to Human Rights Activist, Maikyau has refused to sign the official NBA Election Observers Report, threatening to publish the report if he continues to withhold assent.
Recall that the NBA was one of the observers accredited by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to monitor the election.
But opening the flood gate of criticisms, Odinkalu wrote on his Twitter handle: “The president of @NigBarAssoc, @YCMaikyauSAN, says he wld score @inecnigeria ‘about 78-80% in the delivery of these elections.’ I’m sure he will tell u to #GoToCourt if u disagree. But it’s still important for u to know what he thinks & to ask him whom he speaks for: The bar?”
Continuing, Odinkalu wrote: “For the record: 1. @NigBarAssoc deployed an election observation team for the presidential election. 2. The #NBA’s election observer team has not yet issued a report. 3. I know for a fact that the @NigBarAssoc election observer team handed in the text of their report to the President of the #NBA at the beginning of this week. 4. I also know for a fact that the President has been unwilling or unable to sign off on the report.”
In similar vein, the immediate past NBA President, Olumide Akpata, has rated the just concluded election low and lacking in transparency.
He expressed outright dissatisfaction with the outcome of last Saturday’s controversial presidential election which led to the declaration of Mr Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the candidate of APC as president-elect by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Though, Atiku and Obi had approached the Presidential Election Court to seek permission for the inspection of election materials used during last Saturday’s poll after the duo had refused to accept defeat, vowing to recover their stolen mandate in court.
Meanwhile, Akpata in a coded message posted on his official Facebook page, noted that after the drama and trauma that marred the election last week, he decided to visit what he described as saner and less toxic clime (Dubai) where presumption of regularity, he said is still a valid notion.
While questioning if this is the path Nigeria will continue to follow, he also disclosed the possibility of leaving the country.
He said, “After the drama…and trauma of last Saturday, I had to come up for air. I had to come to a saner and less toxic clime where the presumption of regularity is still a valid notion.
“Dubai…I haven’t been here since pre-Covid days and I had almost forgotten how intentional these guys are about being better…doing better.
“Next stop: India…the largest democracy in the world, where they still manage to hold free, fair, transparent and credible elections.
Credit: The Nigeria Lawyers