The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has been advised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to stop libellous accusations against the reputation of its chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu.
Rotimi Oyekanmi, the INEC Chairman’s chief press secretary, responded to the PDP’s call for Yakubu to step down from his position on Friday in Abuja by offering the advice.
The most recent PDP request for Mr Yakubu to step down as INEC Chairman, as it did in the past, according to Mr Oyekanmi, was misdirected.
“Interestingly, the PDP did not provide any convincing evidence to back up all the spurious allegations it listed as Yakubu’s “infractions”.
“To be sure, the PDP failed to provide any evidence to substantiate the allegations of Yakubu’s “brazen violation of the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, INEC’s Regulations and Guidelines, and criminal manipulation and alteration of election results”.
“The PDP also did not give the evidence to prove its claims that Prof. Yakubu “sabotaged the uploading and transmission of results from polling units,” he said.
Mr Oyekanmi added: “To be sure, INEC does not rig elections. Rather, the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) has, since its introduction, among other innovations, ensured the integrity of the electoral process by ensuring that only properly registered voters are allowed to vote on election day.
“It is common knowledge that the PDP has rejected the outcome of the presidential election and has vowed to challenge it in court.
“The path of honour for the party, therefore, is to pursue its case in court, armed with all the evidence at its disposal and wait for the court’s decision.
”But going about canvassing the same issues the party intends to plead in court on the pages of newspapers and calling for the resignation of the INEC Chairman is like putting the cart before the horse.
“More importantly, the PDP is hereby reminded that making libellous allegations against the person of the INEC Chairman is actionable. The party should henceforth desist from the practice.”
