Poll: INEC chairman contravened electoral act, should be questioned - rights lawyer

By Joe Chukindi

A human right lawyer based in Anambra, Barr Christopher C. Enemuo has stated that the chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu contravened relevant sections of the electoral act.

The activist lawyer while speaking to journalists in Awka said the INEC chairman rather than talking about conducting the governorship and House of Assembly elections, should rather be answering questions about fraudulent practices during the presidential election.

Similarly, Enemuo had last week called for the arrest of the INEC chairman by the Department of State Service, DSS.

Briefing journalists in Awka, the lawyer said: "It is an offence for the INEC chairman not to upload election result through the BVAS, and that on its own is an offence already committed by the chairman.

“I do not understand why the INEC chairman is still moving around as if nothing happened; he is yet to be arrested and investigated by the law enforcement agencies in Nigeria.

"There are stipulated circumstances by our laws as to when persons could be arrested; when they are planning to commit a crime, while committing a crime and when a crime is already established.

"On our national television, right before our law enforcement agencies and Nigerians, the INEC chairman committed an electoral offence."

The lawyer called on both the Labour Party and Peoples Democratic Party legal team to officially petition law enforcement agencies and other essential bodies so that criminal and civil suit will be instituted against the INEC chairman.

The OP is right but we are in a country where the government does not obey the Supreme court.

Nigeria my country

They said iNEC is an independent body and can do anything they like without minding any body....my question is that since the election results were not uploaded when needed,what is now the uses/functions of the BVAS and why was it bought by INEC.The same INEC,still went to court and asked the court for an order to reconfigure the same BVAS that the real function was ignored during the presidential election.Secondly,if BVAS was used as the reason they went to court for the reconfiguration before the Goverborship/HOA Elections,where did they get the result that was declared after the Presidential election?because up till now about 12,600 polling unit results are not yet uploaded and also,before the results was announced on 1/3/2023,the uploaded results by BVAS was not upto 45%. where did INEC get the declared results.