The opposition parties have been urged by the Nigerian Youth Network for Good Governance and Sustainable Democracy to stop criticizing Mahmood Yakubu, the head of the Independent National Electoral Commission, in the media.
After INEC declared Bola Tinubu the winner of the 2023 presidential election, the candidates for that office from the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, and the Labour Party, Peter Obi, filed a petition with the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.
In a statement made available to our correspondent on Monday, Constantine Ikechukwu, the chairman of the board of trustees, 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.
“Unfortunately, both the petitioners, their attorneys, and their supporters have continued to criticize the results of the election in public,” the chairman said.
“In actuality, their lawyers, who are eminent silks, have persisted in making derogatory remarks to the media regarding the results of the election that they are contesting.
Despite acknowledging that the 2023 presidential election had some flaws, Ikechukwu insisted that Mahmood Yakubu, the INEC chairman, had not rigged the vote in the APC’s favor.
“After carefully examining the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act 2022, we are confident that Prof. Yakubu only fulfilled his statutory duties and did not violate any known laws when he declared Bola Tinubu the winner at the National Collation Centre.
On the contrary, if he hadn’t made that declaration, he would have broken the law, which would have had serious repercussions.
“All aggrieved parties must now sheath their swords, stop the ongoing verbal battle on social media, and permit the Tribunal to complete its assignment in peace,” the Chairman advised opposition parties.
More importantly, Nigerian politicians need to stop complaining every time an election result doesn’t go their way and start practicing good sportsmanship in the political arena.
