AA, APP Disown Labour Party’s call for removal of INEC chairman

The Action Alliance (AA) and Action Peoples Party (APP), have described as unfortunate the call by the Labour Party for the resignation of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu.

The Director General, Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign, Akin Osuntokun had on Thursday called for Yakubu’s sack as INEC chair.

But in a statement on Friday in Abuja, National Chairman of the Action Alliance (AA), Barrister Kenneth Udeze, accused the Labour Party of mudslinging the INEC boss having failed to establish its case at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.

According to Udeze, the Labour Party and its public-facing organs are seeking to distract the public from the reality that their candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, did not win the 2023 presidential election and could not realistically have won it.

He said it was reforms introduced by INEC that litigants are relying on to present their cases at various election petition tribunals across the nation.

The statement reads: “Assuming without conceding, the elections were manipulated, the Labour Party can only prove its case using the instrumentality of the innovations promoted and defended by the INEC chairman. It beggars belief that while relying on innovations introduced by the INEC chairman, the party still castigates him and seeks to provide him

He said it is without a doubt that INEC, under the leadership of Yakubu, has introduced the most far-reaching innovations to improve the electoral process in Nigeria.

Also, the Action Peoples Party (APP) in a separate statement said it was unfortunate that INEC had become an easily available punching bag at whom the political class targeted to manipulate the system or at whom the political class targeted its angst.

The statement signed by the Party’s acting National Chairman, Barrister Uche Nnadi, asked the Labour Party to await the PEPT decision and refrain from needlessly stirring up the Nigerian public against an outstanding public servant because of their easily predicted loss at the election.

The statement said: “It is on record that the political class stood by while INEC facilities were targeted and attacked in the build-up to the elections. For instance, INEC facilities in the South East were constantly attacked & equipment destroyed with little or no comments from people such as Osuntokun.

“We will be the first to admit that there were a few cases where politicians induced INEC staff to manipulate the process. However, it is on record that where these cases have been established, the Commission has demonstrated a commitment to prosecuting the perpetrators of these acts.”