Atedo Peterside: INEC under Mahmood Yakubu was a national disgrace

Atedo Peterside, founder of Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc and Anap Foundation, has described the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) under the leadership of its former chairman Mahmood Yakubu as a “national disgrace”.

Peterside spoke on Monday during an interview on ‘Politics Today’, a Channels Television programme, while reacting to the recent change in INEC’s leadership.

President Bola Tinubu recently appointed Joash Amupitan as INEC chairman, succeeding Yakubu, whose two-term tenure ended in October.

Amupitan was sworn in as INEC chairman on October 23, a week after his confirmation by the senate.

Yakubu, who took office in 2015, served as the country’s chief electoral officer for nearly a decade.

When asked about his expectations from Amupitan, Peterside said, “I will never say never, but the INEC that was led by Mahmood Yakubu was a national disgrace.”

“You just have to go on their IReV. If you have time, I will take you there myself and show you result sheets they upload—mutilated, sometimes with figures changed, and in some cases, they even forget to change the words,” he added.

He also criticised the judiciary for failing to uphold integrity in electoral matters and backed calls for reforming the Electoral Act to transfer the burden of proof from petitioners to INEC.

“I heard former governor Dickson saying in the senate that we have to amend the Electoral Act in some important way,” Peterside said.

“See, this is where our judiciary has not lived up to the required standards. I agree with Senator Dickson that the burden of proof should shift to INEC.

“You can’t allow a situation where INEC can do anything, bring out rubbish results — mutilated and everything — and then argue that it’s for the victim to prove that what they’ve done is wrong, when even a blind man can see that what they’ve done is wrong.”

Peterside said many Nigerians have lost confidence in both the electoral commission and the judiciary, warning that citizens might resort to self-help in future polls if trust is not restored.