Yakasal, a pharmacy professor at Bayero University in Kano, was the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Returning Officer for the Tudun Wada/Doguwa House of Representative election. He had previously announced that Ado Doguwa of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had won the election with 39,732 votes, defeating his closest rival, Yushau Salisu Abdullahi of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), who had polled 34,798 votes.
However, in a letter addressed to the INEC Chairman, Yakasal stated that he was made to announce the result under duress, as his life was physically put in danger. According to his letter, the collation area was completed under siege, with people threatening to burn down the INEC facility if he did not declare the result within one hour. He claims that he was utterly traumatised, hopeless, and confused, which prevented him from working by the Electoral Act and election guidelines.
Yakasal’s letter reads: “I served as the Returning Officer for the 2023 Tudun Wada/Doguwa House of Representatives elections whose results were declared by me on the 26th February 2023. However, I would like to testify that the declaration was made under duress for fear of losing my life and that other INEC officials were with me. The collation area was completed under siege, threatening to burn down the INEC facility if I did not declare the result within one hour. I was utterly traumatised, hopeless and confused, which did not give me the stability of mind to work by the Electoral Act and election guidelines as areas or polling units where the elections were cancelled, the total number of accredited voters was not compared with a margin of the scores that led to the declaration and finally the situation my colleagues and found ourselves could not allow us to attend to the complaints of non-use of BVAS in some polling units.
“I hope my statement would be kindly looked at and necessary action to be taken in accordance with section 65 of the Electoral Act 2022.”
Following Yakasal’s statement, the Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Ado Doguwa, was arrested by the Nigerian police and subsequently arraigned in court for electoral violence. INEC has also taken action, removing Doguwa’s name from the House of Representatives members-elect list.
This turn of events has questioned the election’s credibility and raised concerns about the safety of election officials in Nigeria. It is imperative that necessary action is taken to ensure the safety and security of election officials in future elections and that the electoral process is conducted in a free, fair, and transparent manner. The integrity of Nigeria’s democracy depends on it.