The Independent National Electoral Commission's Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, received a letter from Mr. Phrank Shaibu, the Special Assistant on Public Communication to the People's Democratic Party's (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, claiming that
promising to deliver credible governorship polls by ensuring that INEC officials found wanting during the presidential election will be barred from participating in the March 11 governorship poll is useless.
Yakubu had pledged to ensure the strict application of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System during a meeting with resident electoral commissioners on Saturday.
"All staff found to be negligent, whether they are regular or ad hoc officials, including collation and returning officers, must not be involved in the upcoming elections," the INEC chairman declared. Additionally, RECs must start disciplinary actions right away in cases where
Yakubu's assurances were deemed to be worthless and unconvincing by Atiku's aide in a statement released on Sunday. The chairman of INEC, he continued, was merely attempting to hide after holding the worst elections Nigeria had ever experienced since independence. After INEC's dubious performance in the elections on February 25, he urged Yakubu to refrain from attempting to deceive Nigerians once more.
He also praised Mary Beth Leonard, the US ambassador to Nigeria, for acknowledging that the results of the elections fell far short of what Nigerians had hoped for.
"The INEC chairman is nothing but a hypocrite," read the statement. He allowed himself to be used, or he used himself, to undermine Nigerians' will after promising to upload the results from voting booths in real-time. You'll be shocked to learn that despite the election taking place seven days ago, the complete results have still not been posted on INEC's result viewing portal. The election was so bad that it didn't live up to Nigerians' expectations, as stated again by a number of foreign media outlets, observers, and US Ambassador Mary Beth Leonard. The chairman of INEC is attempting to assign blame rather than apologize.