Scores of aggrieved Nigerians, on Thursday, stormed the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, to protest the 2023 general election, kicking against the inauguration of the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, on May 29, 2023.
The protesters, who expressed their displeasure under the aegis of the National Youth League for the Defence of Democracy (NYLDD), also demanded the invocation of an Interim National Government in the country.
The protesters, while urging President Muhammadu Buhari to constitute an interim government before leaving office on May 29, 2023, urged the President to sack the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.
The aggrieved protesters also called for Yakubu’s arrest by the Department of State Services (DSS).
Speaking to journalists, one of NYLDD leaders, Dr Moses Paul, said the interim government is expected to appoint a new INEC chairman and conduct a fresh election that will produce “a befitting President for Nigeria”.
Paul said: “We are citizens of Nigeria, lovers of Nigeria, standing on the path of our constitution and citizens’ rights.
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“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, 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.”
When asked to provide other options if the two demands were not met, one of the co-conveners, Anngu Orgu, said they are harmless Nigerians “but we will use every other civil and lawful means to make sure that our demands are met.”
“We are here as frustrated Nigerians and the fundamental rights of Nigerians have been trampled upon by Mahmood Yakubu-led INEC and we are here calling for his immediate resignation. We have also requested that DSS should arrest him, and he should be prosecuted by the EFCC.
“We are calling on DSS to arrest Mahmood immediately, the EFCC should investigate him and we are also calling on the Nigerian Judiciary because those concerned are already in court, particularly the presidential election of February 25, we are calling on the judges in Nigeria that we want justice to prevail.
“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,” Orgu added.
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