SOME youths under the aegis of Free Nigeria Movement have called on the governments of the United States and United Kingdom to urgently place a visa ban on those behind violence during the just-concluded elections.
The youths also urged the “UK and US governments to revoke the citizenship” of those who sponsored thugs to intimidate and disrupt the voting process during the presidential election.
They made the call during a protest to the British High Commission and United States Embassy on Monday in Abuja.
Expressing displeasure over the outcome of the presidential election, the protesters called for sanctions on Prof. Yakubu Mahmood, National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and all state electoral commissioners and other INEC officials who contributed to the alleged illegality that happened during the 2023 election.
Addressing journalists during the protest, the convener of the group, Moses Ogidi-Paul urged the Nigerian government to compensate all victims of electoral violence and voter suppression during the 2023 general elections.
He said: “On the 25th of February, 2023, Nigerians trooped to their polling units with one mission, to cast their votes and choose their next leaders.
“Never has our democracy been so sorely abused by any citizen in either public or private service. Prof. Yakubu Mahmoud has raised a bar of impunity that will cost our country many years of electoral excellence to correct.
“This was not the electronic transmission he promised Nigerians and the world at Chatham House. Prof. Yakubu Mahmoud has lied to Nigerians and abused our right of choice. We pass a vote of no confidence and call for his immediate sack and prosecution.
“We, therefore, call on President Muhammadu Buhari, whose commitment to free and fair elections is engraved in the legacy of the Electoral Act 2022, to initiate processes and procedures that will bring Nigeria under the control of an interim government pending the resolution of all litigations pertaining to the conduct of the February 25 presidential election.”
