Business leader and founder of Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, Atedo Peterside, has harshly criticised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) under its former chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, describing it as a “national disgrace.”
Peterside made the remark on Monday, October 28, during an interview on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme, while reacting to the appointment of Joash Amupitan as the new INEC chairman.
President Bola Tinubu had named Amupitan as Yakubu’s successor after the latter completed his second term in office. The new chairman was confirmed by the Senate and sworn in on October 23.
Commenting on his expectations for Amupitan’s leadership, Peterside said, “I will never say never, but the INEC that was led by Mahmood Yakubu was a national disgrace.”
He criticised the credibility of elections conducted under Yakubu, pointing to irregularities in the results uploaded on the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal.
According to him, “You just have to go on their IReV. If you have time, I will take you there myself and show you result sheets they upload—mutilated, sometimes with figures changed, and in some cases, they even forget to change the words.”
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The banking executive also took aim at the judiciary, accusing it of failing to uphold justice in electoral disputes.
He aligned himself with calls for reforming the Electoral Act to make INEC accountable for defending its declared results.
Peterside said, “I heard former governor Dickson saying in the senate that we have to amend the Electoral Act in some important way.”
He added that the judiciary had not lived up to its role in ensuring electoral justice, saying, “See, this is where our judiciary has not lived up to the required standards. I agree with Senator Dickson that the burden of proof should shift to INEC.”
Peterside continued, “You can’t allow a situation where INEC can do anything, bring out rubbish results—mutilated and everything—and then argue that it’s for the victim to prove that what they’ve done is wrong, when even a blind man can see that what they’ve done is wrong.”
He warned that public trust in both INEC and the judiciary was fading, cautioning that citizens might take matters into their own hands in future elections if confidence in the system is not restored.