Stop media attacks on INEC chair, group tells opposition parties

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mahmood Yakubu, has been the target of media attacks, according to the Nigerian Youth Network for Good Governance and Sustainable Democracy.

After INEC announced Bola Tinubu as the winner of the 2023 presidential election, Atiku Abubakar, the candidate for president of the Peoples Democratic Party, and Peter Obi, the candidate for the Labour Party, filed a petition with the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.

The Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Constantine Ikechukwu, denounced the LP, PDP, and their supporters for continuing to disregard the law by making unreserved comments about the results of the 2023 presidential election while the PEPT is occupied with hearing their petitions in a statement made available to our correspondent on Monday.

The chairman remarked, “Unfortunately, the petitioners’ lawyers and supporters have persisted in publicly disparaging the election’s results.

“In actuality, their lawyers, who are eminent silks, have persisted in speaking foul to the media about the election result that they are contesting.

Ikechukwu, who acknowledged that there were some flaws in the 2023 presidential election, insisted that Mahmood Yakubu, the INEC chairman, had not rigged the vote in the APC’s favor.

“Following a careful examination of the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act 2022, we are confident that when Prof. Yakubu announced Bola Tinubu as the winner at the National Collation Centre, he was only carrying out his legal obligations and did not violate any known laws.

He would have broken the law and faced serious repercussions if he hadn’t made that declaration, on the other hand.

The Chairman advised opposition parties, saying, “All aggrieved parties must now draw their swords, end the ongoing social media verbal battle, and permit the Tribunal to complete its mandate in peace.

More importantly, Nigerian politicians should embrace the spirit of sportsmanship in the political arena rather than complaining every time their preferred candidate did not win.