The Unified Nigerian Youth Forum ( UNYF) has described as unpatriotic the call for the removal and investigation of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof.Mahmood Yakubu.
Speaking at a press conference in Kaduna on Friday, Comrade Abdulsalam Mohammed Kazeem, President of the UNYF, said on behalf of their members, they passed a vote of confidence on the INEC Chairman and his entire team for being worthy ambassadors of our nation.
He said despite the giant strides recorded by Prof. Yakubu Mahmood, especially in the area of deploying cutting-edge technology such as the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for credible, fair and transparent elections as well as voter mobilisation and enlightenment, some elements were busy working against him.
“It is in the public domain, the activities of certain group of persons purporting to be promoting the interest of the north and Nigeria, but sadly working for the enemies of the nation, these persons have continued to falsely accused and demand the resignation and sack of the INEC Boss for carrying out his mandate. Those behind this charade are nothing but paid agents and goons of selfish and unpatriotic politicians seeking to manipulate next year’s general elections at all cost.”
“We dispell in strong terms the rumours making rounds that the INEC Boss and his management team have morally compromised because of pressure from political parties to deactivate BVAS. For the record, please note that; BVAS and all the electoral reforms currently in place have been approved by President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC majority National Assembly. It is inconceivable to say that the APC or any political party is pressuring INEC.”
“It is again not true that INEC and indeed Prof. Yakubu Mahmood have been pressured by anybody to deactivate or stop the use of the BVAS they introduced in fulfilment of the president’s promise of delivering a transparent election. INEC is established by law and has a law guiding its activities. No individual can wake up and decide to deactivate the use of BVAS when the law says it should be deployed.”
“Those who make allegations like this are out to tarnish the reputation of the Independent National Electoral Commission and that of its indefatigable Chairman. Nigerians must not fall to such antics especially now that the general elections is at hand, Politicians are jittery and will do/say anything to make noise”
“We also want to make clear,that the allegations that INEC acted in a morally compromised way and denied some persons from the north west and north central an extended period of voter registration as a result of the network shutdown for special military operations is false and misleading.”
