The Pan-Igbo Youth Assembly (PIYA) has given the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) a seven-day ultimatum to remove its National Commissioner overseeing Imo, Anambra and Ebonyi states, Dr Ken Nnamdi Ukeagu, over allegations bordering on partisan activities and the leakage of sensitive electoral information.
The group, in a statement issued after a world press conference on Sunday, warned that failure by INEC to act within the stipulated period would trigger massive protests, including the occupation of INEC offices across the five South-East states and a demonstration at the Commission’s national headquarters in Abuja.
PIYA, through its spokesman, Comrade Noble Nkem Regius, said the controversy surrounding Ukeagu’s conduct had become too serious for the electoral body to ignore, insisting that public confidence in elections depended on the neutrality of officials entrusted with their conduct.
“The credibility of elections is founded on public confidence in the neutrality of those entrusted with their conduct,” the group said. “Where an electoral official is accused of compromising that neutrality, the responsible thing to do is to remove him from the sensitive assignment pending a thorough investigation.”
The youth body also called on INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, to immediately remove Ukeagu from his responsibilities in Imo, Anambra and Ebonyi states and institute a comprehensive investigation into allegations that he leaked sensitive INEC documents and confidential electoral information to politicians and other partisan interests. It further demanded an independent probe into the alleged unauthorised disclosure of electoral information and alleged consultancy arrangements involving the National Commissioner and politicians opposed to the ruling APC.
According to PIYA, politicians and political interests in the South-East had repeatedly invoked their association with the National Commissioner, a development it said was creating a crisis of confidence ahead of the 2027 general elections. The group said it was not seeking preferential treatment for any political party or candidate but was demanding “an electoral umpire that is manifestly neutral, transparent and accountable,” warning that if INEC failed to act within seven days, it would mobilise millions of Igbo youths for lawful and disciplined protests across the region and Abuja.
