Professor Jideofor Adibe says the National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Mahmood Yakubu should have resigned in the wake of the 2023 elections.
Nigerians went to the polls earlier in the year to elect their president, governors, and national and state lawmakers. But the exercise, especially the presidential election, was heavily criticised by local and foreign bodies.
The criticisms were enough for the INEC chief to have stepped aside, according to Adibe.
Adibe (left) says INEC has lost credibility among Nigerians.
“I think I have this several times even in 2019. INEC cannot deliver anything now because it has a legitimacy crisis,” the professor of political science said on Channels Television’s end-of-year show, “2023: Year Of Transition”.
“The first thing that should have been done is for Professor Mahmood to go. In climes where honour means anything, even if you feel you have done your best, to the extent that international and local observers have condemned and heavily criticised the conduct of the election, the best thing you should do is to step aside. His life does not need to depend on it. You step aside for the sake of the integrity of that institution. And for as long as it remains, I don’t think anybody will think they can get anything from INEC.”