Protesters in Abuja demand arrest, prosecution of INEC chairman, 15 RECs, ask Buhari to appoint interim government (Video)

Protester took over the streets of Abuja, in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), early Thursday, demanding the sack, arrest and prosecution of the National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Mahmood Yakubu, by the Department Security Services (DSS).

The protesters also asked foreign missions in the country to revoke the travel visas of 15 Resident Electoral Officers of 15 states in the country, including those of Lagos, Rivers, Borno, Zamfara, Niger, Jigawa, Kano and Imo, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Ogun, Oyo, Cross River, Katsina and Edo states over allegations of electoral misconduct.

The protesters who expressed their grievances over the outcome of the just-ended 2023 general elections in the country further called for an interim government to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari aft the end of his tenure in office in May, this year.

The group of protesters campaigning under the aegis of the National Youth League for the Defence of Democracy (NYLDD), asked Presidential Buhari to put the ING in place an interim national government before he leaves office on May 29.

Displaying various placards, they also asked several foreign embassies in Nigeria to immediately revoke the visas of 15 listed INEC RECs following their misconduct which had led to loss of lives through electoral violence across the country during both the February 25 and March 18 elections.

Spokesperson for the protesters, Dr Moses Paul, who addressed journalists, explained that the interim government is expected to appoint a new INEC chairman and conduct a fresh election that will produce a befitting President for Nigeria.

“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,” he said.

The protesters condemned the conduct of Prof Yakubu for ‘frustrating Nigerians and the fundamental rights of Nigerians which have been trampled upon,’ adding; ‘we are here calling for his immediate resignation.’

They also asked the DSS to 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.”