The Imo State resident electoral commissioner, Prof. Sylvia Agu, should be redeployed immediately, as per the Peoples Democratic Party’s repeated requests to Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
In a statement made public on Monday by Debo Ologunagba, the PDP’s national publicity secretary, the party stated that Agu ought to be fired “for allegedly being compromised to manipulate the November 11, 2023 governorship elections in Imo state in favor of the All Progressives Congress.”
The party also asks Yakubu to follow in the footsteps of Inspector General of Police Kayode Egbetokun, who reorganized the Commissioners of Police in the states of Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi in response to public outcry and requests for impartiality in the governorship elections scheduled for November 11, 2023.
By paying attention to the persistent calls, petitions, and protests from the Imo State populace, political parties, civil society organizations, and the Ohaneze Youth Council for the removal of Prof. Sylvia Agu, who has allegedly been compromised by the APC, Prof. Yakubu can avert an impending crisis in the Imo State election.
Given Prof. Agu’s alleged involvement in the overt rigging of the 2023 Imo State House of Assembly and National elections in favor of the APC—a role that is still in the public domain—the people of Imo State cannot accept any electoral process with her serving as REC, the statement continued.
The PDP claims that “the redeployment of Agu out of Imo State is, therefore, the only way” to ensure a legitimate election, prevent a crisis in the state, and rebuild public faith in the electoral process.
The statement continued, “This is particularly so in light of extremely unsettling claims in the public domain of secret meetings between Prof. Agu and specific APC agents purportedly enabled by her close relative, an APC national officer, prior to the governorship election in Imo state on November 11, 2023.”
While urging the INEC chairman to remember that voter trust in the electoral process is what ultimately determines an election’s integrity. Agu has lost his integrity as a resident electoral commissioner and ought not to be involved in the administration of the November 11, 2023, governorship election, according to the PDP. Her prolonged tenure as Imo REC is annoying and sure to spark trouble.
