INEC chair’s promise for credible gov election worthless –Atiku’s aide

Mr. Phrank Shaibu, the Special Assistant on Public Communication to Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, told INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu that the promise to bar officials who performed poorly in the presidential election from participating in the March 11 governorship polls is meaningless. Yakubu had earlier assured Resident Electoral Commissioners that all staff found negligent—whether regular or ad‑hoc, including collation and returning officers—would be excluded from the upcoming elections, and that RECs should immediately initiate disciplinary action where prima facie evidence of wrongdoing exists. He also pledged strict use of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System.

In a Sunday statement, Atiku’s aide dismissed Yakubu’s assurances as worthless and unconvincing, accusing the INEC chairman of attempting to cover up what he described as the worst elections Nigeria has witnessed since independence. Shaibu urged Yakubu not to deceive Nigerians again after the questionable performance of INEC in the February 25 polls and praised U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria Mary Beth Leonard for acknowledging that the elections fell far short of Nigerians’ expectations.

The statement criticized Yakubu as a hypocrite, noting that after promising real‑time upload of polling‑unit results, the full results remain absent from INEC’s result‑viewing portal seven days after the election. It highlighted that foreign media, observers, and Ambassador Leonard all deemed the election a failure. Rather than apologizing, the chairman is said to be shifting blame and claiming that errant staff will be punished and excluded from the March 11 governorship poll. Shaibu mocked the feasibility of training new staff within five days, questioning whether INEC plans to recruit new personnel or “deploy some from outer space.”

Shaibu recalled that INEC announced All Progressives Congress candidate Bola Tinubu as President‑elect following the February 25 presidential election. He urged the INEC chairman to own up to his failure, noting that over 300,000 Nigerians have signed a Change.org petition calling for the United States, United Kingdom and European countries to impose a visa ban on Yakubu.