Protesters Storm Abuja, Demands Interim Government, Fresh Polls

The just concluded elections had protesters kicking against the inauguration of the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on the 29th of May and instead demanding the invocation of an Interim National Government (ING).

President Muhammadu Buhari was asked to put the ING in place before he leaves office on May 29.

The angry Nigerians, who had protested on the platform of the National Youth League for the Defence of Democracy, (NYLD), also demanded the immediate sack and arrest of the Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu by the Department Security Services, (DSS).

They also asked several foreign embassies in Nigeria to immediately revoke the visas of 15 INEC Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) with various placards and different inscriptions.

The RECs they want to be sanctioned are those of Lagos, Rivers, Borno, Zamfara, Niger, Jigawa, Kano and Imo. Others are Ebonyi, Ekiti, Ogun, Oyo, Cross River, Katsina and Edo States.

One of the leaders of the group, Dr Moses Paul, addressing journalists at the Unity Fountain, where the protest started, 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.

“We are citizens of Nigeria, lovers of Nigeria, standing on the path of our constitution and citizens’ rights”, he said.

According to him, they were to address the greatest crime that has happened in the history of the world and in Nigeria. This includes people who were burnt in Kano, people who were shot in Rivers, and several  inhumanities that happened in Lagos state in the course of this election.

They demanded from the president, the immediate arrest and prosecution of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, who according to them has committed the greatest fraud in the history of humanity.

Also, they demanded that an interim government be put in place before the end of the president’s tenure. Then, 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 Orngu, said they are harmless and Nigerians and will use every other civil and lawful means to make sure that our demands are met.

He also said, their fundamental rights of Nigerians have been trampled upon by Mahmood Yakubu-led INEC and are here calling for his immediate resignation. Also, they  have also requested that DSS should arrest him, and he should be prosecuted by the EFCC.

He further said they have been to the US Embassy and to the British Council in Nigeria, and 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,” he added.

In one of the letters made available to journalists and addressed to the United States Embassy, the protesters called for sanctions against the INEC Chairman. Protesters Stormed Abuja, Demands Interim Government, Fresh Polls