Fresh demonstrations against the recently ended elections shook Abuja, the capital of the country, on Thursday. Protesters demanded the inauguration of an interim national government (ING) rather than the president-elect Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s inauguration on May 29, 2023.
The angry Nigerians demanded the immediate dismissal and arrest of Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, by the Department Security Services, DSS, as well as the establishment of the ING before President Muhammadu Buhari leaves office on May 29. They protested on the platform of the National Youth League for the Defence of Democracy (NYLDD).
They demanded that the visas of 15 INEC Resident Electoral Commissioners RECs be promptly revoked while armed with a variety of placards with varied messages.
They want the RECs in Lagos, Rivers, Borno, Zamfara, Niger, Jigawa, Kano, and Imo to be sanctioned. Others include the states of Edo, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Ogun, Oyo, Cross River, and Katsina.
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One of the protest’s leaders, Dr. Moses Paul, spoke to reporters at the Unity Fountain where the demonstration began and stated that the interim administration is anticipated to name a new INEC chairman and hold new elections that would result in a president who is suitable for Nigeria.
He stated: “We are citizens of Nigeria, lovers of Nigeria, standing on the path of our constitution and citizens’ rights.
“We are here particularly to address the greatest crime that has happened in the history of the world and in Nigeria.
“People were burnt in Kano, people were shot in Rivers, and we have seen the greatest inhumanity happen in Lagos state in the course of this election.
“Two demands we are making; we are asking the President of this country to immediately arrest and prosecute the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, who has committed the greatest fraud in the history of humanity. We need him arrested and prosecuted”.
“Our number two demand is that we are asking that an interim government be put in place. We are saying that, because we do not want President Muhammadu Buhari to continue, his tenure is ending, so as a father he should put in place an interim government so that the interim government will now appoint another INEC chairman who will conduct a free and credible election and produce a befitting President for our country.”
One of the co-conveners, Anngu Orngu, responded that they are harmless Nigerians but would use “every other civil and lawful means” to ensure that their requests were satisfied if the two demands were not met.
“We are here as frustrated Nigerians and the fundamental rights of Nigerians have been trampled upon by Mahmood Yakubu-led INEC and we are here calling for his immediate resignation.
“We have also requested that DSS should arrest him, and he should be prosecuted by the EFCC.
“We have been to the US Embassy, we have been to the British Council in Nigeria, and we have also submitted a letter to the French Embassy, calling on them to advise the Nigerian government that the Nigerian people are not happy.
“We the young people of this country are not happy over what is happening in our country. We may be peaceful now but when you push even a goat to the wall, the goat may bite,” he added.
