The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called for the resignation of the head of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, alleging that he manipulated the results of the February 25, 2023, presidential election in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Atiku Abubakar, the party's candidate, came in second place behind the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. The PDP also demanded the police and the Department of State Service (DSS) to investigate Yakubu. The call came after PDP leaders and supporters marched to the INEC headquarters in Abuja to protest the election's outcome. However, INEC declared that Tinubu received 8,794,726 votes, while Atiku and Peter Obi got 6,984,520 and 6,101,533 votes, respectively.
The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Debo Ologunagba, said the party had enough evidence to prove that Yakubu manipulated the election results to favour the APC. Ologunagba called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the police, and the DSS to investigate Yakubu, and the international community to punish him for "undermining democracy." Ologunagba also accused Yakubu of violating the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022, and INEC's Regulations, Guidelines, and Manual issued for the election.
The PDP claimed that INEC was compromised to rig the election by violating the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022, and sabotaging the uploading and transmission of results directly from the polling units. The party also accused INEC of ignoring the objections and complaints raised during the collation of results, which violated the provisions of Section 64 (4) (a) and (b), 64 (6) (a)-(d), and 65 (1) (c) of the Electoral Act, 2022. Ologunagba alleged that the INEC Chairman declared manipulated results that were not transmitted directly from the polling units to INEC's Server/Website and ignored complaints raised during the collation of results.
The PDP also claimed that evidence abounds in states across the six geo-political zones of the country where winning figures lawfully scored by the party were switched in favour of the APC. The party accused INEC of replacing results sheets from polling centres won by the PDP with fake results sheets in which the APC was allocated unearned winning figures.
The PDP further demanded that Yakubu resign from office as his continuing stay in office is injurious to the integrity of the Electoral Commission and an assault on the credibility of Nigeria's electoral process. The party accused Yakubu of being culpable for serious electoral offences and betraying the trust and confidence that Nigerians reposed in him and the Electoral Commission to deliver a free, fair and credible election in the country. The PDP also alleged that Yakubu's stay in office is capable of paving the way for the suppression, tampering and destruction of critical evidence required to expose the infractions and violations by the commission at the Presidential Election Tribunal.
The PDP called on Nigerians to remain calm and law-abiding while the party pursues its case at the Presidential Election Tribunal. The party also called on the international community to monitor the proceedings at the tribunal to ensure that justice is served. The PDP promised to challenge the election result and prove to the tribunal that the election was rigged in favour of the APC. The party vowed to continue to fight for the sanctity of Nigeria's democracy and the rule of law.