The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide has criticized former President Olusegun Obasanjo over his comments on Nigeria’s recent elections.

The group also expressed disapproval of the ex-president’s remarks targeting the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.

It was recalled that during the Chinua Achebe Leadership Forum held at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, USA, the former president reportedly described the 2023 general elections as a travesty and called for the appointment of new and credible leaders for INEC with short tenures to prevent corruption and re-establish trust.

He also accused the electoral body of deliberately sabotaging the process in the 2023 general elections.

“As a matter of urgency, we must make sure the INEC chairperson and his or her staff are thoroughly vetted. The vetting exercise should yield dispassionate, non-partisan actors with impeccable reputations.

“Nigeria must ensure the appointment of new credible INEC leadership at the federal, state, local government, and municipal—city, town, and village levels—with short tenures—to prevent undesirable political influence and corruption and re-establish trust in the electoral systems by its citizens.

“The BVAS and IReV are two technological innovations that, before 2023, were celebrated for their potential to enhance the accuracy and transparency of our election results, eliminate the threat of election rigging, and boost public trust in electoral outcomes,” Obasanjo said.

Responding, the National President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide, Mazi Okwu Nnabuike, accused the former president of laying the foundation for a flawed electoral system in the country.

Okwu, in a statement, alleged that during the former president’s tenure, election results were announced even as voters were still on queues voting across Nigeria.

“Results were written at government houses and politicians’ houses. ‘Go to court’ was popularized under Obasanjo’s leadership, where all that mattered was for INEC to declare the president’s preferred candidate winner, and those crying were expected to go to court.

“Little wonder late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, a man with integrity, cried out that the election that brought him to power was deeply flawed. The said election was under Obasanjo’s presidency,” Okwu said.

According to him, Obasanjo did not initiate any meaningful electoral reforms during his leadership.