By Luminous Jannamike, Abuja

In a bid to protect the integrity of Nigeria’s electoral process, the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) has demanded the immediate sack and prosecution of the Adamawa Resident Electoral Commissioner, Hudu Yunusa-Ari, and his accomplices for their role in what it described as an assault on Nigeria’s democracy.

IPAC’s National Chairman, Yabagi Sani, issued a powerful statement on Tuesday condemning the heinous crime and calling for justice to be served.

Sani emphasized that the Council will strongly resist any attempt to impose an unpopular leader on fellow compatriots, and that the assault on democracy must be punished to serve as a deterrent to others who would contemplate such crimes against the fatherland.

“IPAC demands the immediate sack and prosecution of the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Yunusa-Ari and his accomplices in this deliberate assault on our hard earned democracy.

“The need for Electoral Offences Commission to try electoral offenders cannot be overemphasized.

“It is inconceivable that a Resident Electoral Commissioner would usurp the powers of the Returning Officer and announce the result of a governorship supplementary election, more so, when the collation of results was ongoing.

“It is a sad commentary in the nation’s electoral process and a dent on INEC as an umpire.

“However, the swift response of the national leadership of the commission in reversing this theatre of the absurd and suspending the errant Resident Electoral Commissioner is commendable in the quest for free, fair, credible, transparent and inclusive elections in Nigeria.

“INEC should justify the confidence the populace reposed in it and do the right thing as we collectively consolidate our democracy,” Sani said.

As the voice of 18 political parties in Nigeria, IPAC reiterated its call for a review of the process in appointing Resident Electoral Commissioners.

According to the Council, some of them are partisan and ignorant of their statutory duties and will go out of their way to foist their preferred candidates, thus subvert the will and mandate of the people which could lead to political upheavals.