Governors of the People Democratic Party, PDP, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to weed out partisan and corrupt officials among their staff.
The governors in a statement by the Director General of the PDP Governors’ Forum Cyril Maduabum, said there should be a deliberate process of revisiting the appointments of National and Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs), so as to weed out corrupt and extremely partisan officials.
They blamed alleged partisan method of appointment of INEC officials on the attempted electoral heist by the now suspended REC of Adamawa State.
“The attempted electoral heist and brigandage perpetrated by the Adamawa State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Barrister Hudu Yunusa, is perhaps the lowest point of the 2023 general elections,” the governors stated.
The state chief executives however commended the immediate steps taken by INEC “as an institution to recover its battered image by nullifying the attempted coup and suspending the REC,” and called on the returning officer, Mele Lamido, to immediately conclude the collation and declare the result.
“One of the most important lessons of this election season is that the integrity of INEC personnel is crucial to free, fair, and credible elections as well as deployment of technology,” the governors added.
They further called for “appropriate sanctions, including prosecution of all those involved, especially the former Resident Electoral Commissioner, Barrister Hudu Yunusa …to serve as an example to others.
“We enjoin all Nigerians to be on alert as we brace up to emerging threats to our democracy and the struggle for good governance in Nigeria.”
