BY MAYOWA SAMUEL
Former Deputy National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party, Bode George, has told the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mahmood Yakubu, to sack the Commission’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, Femi Odubiyi.
The PDP chieftain who made the call on Sunday in a statement alleged that the INEC boss needs to remove Odubiyi because of his close relationship with the president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress.
He requested that Yakubu should explain how Odubiyi, a former Commissioner for Science and Technology in Lagos State found himself as the head of “a critical department before, during and after elections.”
According to him, Odubiyi was a mole deliberately planted in INEC, to subvert the will of the Nigerian electorate.
Bode George said, “Today, millions of Nigerians are disputing the outcome of the February 25 Presidential elections and some candidates are already in court. BVAS and IReV are very critical in the legal process that is going on.
“Nigerians are already asking Prof. Mahmood Yakubu: How did this man, former Commissioner in Lagos State, find his way into INEC, not just any Department but a critical one like ICT?
“That department is very sensitive. Why should a follower of a presidential candidate be deployed to man a sensitive department like ICT in an election year?
“How did he even get his way into INEC? Do we have acolytes of Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi and other candidates heading other departments in INEC? Nigerians need to know.
“Was there no background check by security agents before this man was chosen to head ICT? How do we want the world to look at us when somebody close to a presidential candidate decides what goes on in the ICT Department?
“Now that other candidates are in court, is this not the time for this fellow to be redeployed? Who appointed him and when was he appointed? Nigerians need to know.
“How did he get in there? Was Yakubu sleeping? How come Atiku, Obi, Kwankwaso and others did not put their contacts there? These are posers the INEC Chairman must unravel,” he said.
George, therefore, called for a comprehensive investigation that should involve all government security apparatus to get to the root of what he described as “this intriguing matter of national interest,” stating that no culpable hand, no matter how highly placed, should be spared of appropriate punishment.
“It is stated clearly in the electoral law that election results from the polling units must be transmitted into INEC Server, and there must not be any interloper.
“I call on all security apparatus of government to quickly wade into this matter by inviting Odubiyi, to explain whatever role he has played and tell Nigerians how he got into INEC ICT unit, from being a Commissioner in Lagos State. The masquerade must be unveiled. This unholy alliance that has pushed our country towards the precipice must be thoroughly checked and nipped in the bud,” George demanded.
