The Peoples Democratic Party and the Labour Party have lashed out at the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu after he commended the conduct of Ghana’s presidential election last weekend and advised Nigerian politicians on what to learn.
In a remarkable outcome, ex-President John Mahama of the opposition party defeated Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, who was the candidate of Ghana’s ruling party.
Yakubu, in a video clip on Sunday, praised the rancour-free conduct of the Ghana election, pointing out lessons for Nigeria.
But in an interview with our correspondent, the National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, Obiora Ifoh, criticised Yakubu for his alleged poor handling of the 2023 presidential election won by President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress.
The Labour Party, whose candidate, Peter Obi, came third behind the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party and ex-Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, accused Yakubu of manipulating the poll in favour of President Tinubu and asked him to apologise to Nigerians.
Both Obi and Atiku contested the result of the 2023 presidential election in court but lost.
But the opposition parties continued to insist that they were rigged out.
Reacting to the INEC chairman’s comment on Ghana’s election, the LP spokesman knocked him for pontificating.
Obiora said though the LP had moved on from what transpired in 2023, “It is a shame that the INEC Chairman should be talking when, in this case, he should be the one to learn from Ghana.
He was the architect of exactly what Nigerians are suffering today.”
“He owes Nigerians an apology. We didn’t hear of electoral violence, snatching of boxes or any glitches whatsoever (in Ghana). The people spoke through their votes. Their votes counted and the Ghanaians are happy with it,” Obiora said.
Similarly, the PDP Deputy National Youth Leader, Timothy Osadolor, described Yakubu’s trip to Ghana to monitor the neighbouring country’s election as an aberration.
According to him, Yakubu owes Nigerians an apology over the alleged mishandling of the 2023 general elections.
He said, “Apologising to Nigerians now will be a little belated, but let it be on record that he apologised and resigned honourably. If I were to be him, I would apologise to Nigerians and resign. Let him borrow a leaf from people of integrity. And when the issues of credibility are being discussed, he should keep quiet and listen.
“Yakubu even had an opinion on the electoral process. I hope he had not taught them the process of rigging elections. The truth is this, he cannot be approbating and reprobating at the same time. You are saying Ghana took lectures from Nigeria on how to declare elections and the voting units and all of that. Can he, in all sincerity, attest to what happened in Edo and Ondo?
“Can he also put his hand on his chest to say he is at peace with his conscience regarding how he handled the last 2023 presidential elections? For everything unfair and everything inconsistent, the man is a working example. And I think that when credible processes are being discussed, people like Yakubu should not be invited to such gatherings.”
