The Senator Nenadi Usman-led Labour Party (LP), has called on the newly nominated Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, to prioritise Nigerians in handling his new assignment.
This was disclosed in a statement by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Tony Akeni, in Abuja on Friday. The party said Prof Amupitan has a choice to either redeem the largest democracy in Africa or further “mutilate and bury its corpse which Prof. Yakubu Mahmood, has left behind.”
Akeni said the newly nominated INEC boss has a fate larger than life thrust at his feet, stressing that he must also choose who he will serve and the legacy he wishes to leave behind for his name and posterity.
“He must choose whether to be honoured by more than 230 million Nigerians who employed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu or to serve the unconstitutional wishes and caprices of a single man, Tinubu, who appointed him.
“To help him make that choice, Prof. Amupitan will do well to reflect how more than 230 million Nigerians at home and all over the world will forever remember his immediate predecessor, Prof. Yakubu Mahmood.
“For the Labour Party, the first all-important litmus test that the new INEC chairman, Prof. Joash Ojo Amupitan, will pass to prove that he has come to serve Nigeria in earnest of his oath of office is to remove the last trace of Julius Abure and his defunct council members from INEC’s portal.
“And replace them with the Nenadi Usman-led council, which the statutory NEC of the party has submitted as its executive council in accordance with the Supreme Court’s judgment that the leadership of political parties is strictly the result of the internal decision and processes of parties.
“This also complies with both Nigeria’s and global administrative conventions, which forbid a leadership vacuum in the management of institutions.
“As he steps into the shoes of his departed predecessor, Prof. Joash Amupitan must realize that he is not only on the radar of Nigerians but the entire civilized world, the West and emerging democracies of the world which look unto Nigeria for good or bad examples,” Akeni said.
