Court ordered arrest of INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu over deleted election results? fact emerges

Months after the conclusion of the 2023 presidential election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), political parties, and presidential candidates continue their legal battle over the outcome of the poll.

But a post shared on Facebook — according to Africa Check — a fact-checking organisation, claims that the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), Abuja, has ordered the arrest of Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the chairman of the commission.

The poster claimed that the order for the arrest of Prof. Yakubu was for deleting election results from the bimodal voter accreditation system (BVAS).

The post, dated Friday, June 23, 2023, reads:

“BREAKING!! Court ordered the arrest of INEC chairman for deleting Results on the BVAS.”

The video accompanying the post appears to show the owner of the Facebook page, who attributes the claim to 'Arise TV news'.

The clip has garnered over 16,000 views as of the time the fact-check was carried out.

Africa Check found the same claim on Facebook here, here, and here.

But did the court order the arrest of the INEC chairman? The fact has emerged.

There are reports in the media that a witness presented by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) told the court that INEC had deliberately deleted the presidential election results from the BVAS machines.

The witness represents the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. No reference can be found on any credible media platform to support the claim that Prof.

Yakubu was arrested on the orders of the court hearing the litigations related to the 2023 presidential poll.

There are also no reports showing that the court called for him to be arrested.

It is, therefore, a bogus claim by those spreading the supposed news.

Africa Check concluded that there is no evidence of the INEC chairperson’s arrest.