The appointment last week of Mahmood Yakubu, a professor, as the new chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), by President Muhammadu Buhari’s has been cheered and jeered.
Ayodele Fayose, Ekiti State governor, described the appointment as a vindication of his positions that the President is a sectional leader.
The National Council of State had after a meeting last week Wednesday announced through Aminu Tambuwal, Sokoto State governor, that Mahmood Yakubu, a former executive secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), was the new man to take over from Amina Zakari, who had been chair in acting capacity since the tenure of former chairman, Attahiru Jega expired on June 8, 2015.
Governor Fayose said he had expected that the new INEC chairman would be chosen from one of the three Southern geo-political zones, especially the South Western part of the country being the only zone yet to produce chairman of the nation’s electoral umpire,.
“Nigeria has entered a one chance bus and it remains to be seen who will save the country from its sectional President,” he said, adding that the “President still sees himself mainly as leader of the Hausa/Fulani and not that of the entire people of Nigeria.”
But, Nelson Ekujumi, executive director, Centre for Rights and Grassroots Initiative (CRGI), said Governor Fayoye’s argument cannot hold any intellectual water because the constitution do not states which section of the country the President must appoint the INEC chairman from.
According to him, the governor was economical with the truth regarding INEC chairmanship when he said the three Southern geo-political zones are the only zones yet to produce the chair because before the emergence of Professor Jega, citizens from the zones actually call the shot at the commission.
“Before Attahiru Jega, INEC chairmen had always come from the southern zones. For me, I am more interested in the character of the person than any ethnic sentiment. The truth of the matter is that no matter where the INEC chairman comes from, he is not going to be on the field. It is the Nigerian electorates that will decide who wins an election or not,” he told BD SUNDAY.
He said further that both Nigerians and Mahmood Yakubu should be more concerned with how the new leadership of the electoral umpire can surpass the feats achieved by the Professor Jega-led INEC for the institution to be strengthened and consequently blocked all forms of electoral malpractice in the system.
Nnamdi Okosieme, public affairs commentator, told BD SUNDAY that there is a valid point in Governor Fayose’s argument which cannot be brushed aside due to the current ethnic and religious tension in the country.
According to him, while Mahmood Yakubu is a straight forward gentleman who could succeed as INEC boss, his appointment, nevertheless, is polarising the country along ethnic lines and further deepening the already worst political suspicion since President Buhari took the mantle of leadership on May 29, this year.
“The first time I met Mahmood Yakubu was during the last National Conference in Abuja. He is a very humble and straight forward gentleman; but nobody can predict how politics may play out in our country. There would always be suspicion with this kind of appointment. Mind you, the President’s lopsided appointments so far have elicited public outcry. If the President contest and wins the 2019 election there would be sections who will find fault by saying ‘the INEC chairman won the election for the President because they are brothers’. It would have been national interest if the President had chosen from outside his own zone,” he said.
He further said that Mahmood Yakubu’s appointment as INEC chairperson made President Buhari the first Nigerian president to have appointed the head of the commission from his own zone because his predecessors, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babagida appointed Abel Guobadia (South-South), and former president Olusegun Obasanjo appointed Maurice Iwu (South-East) and Goodluck Jonathan appointed Attahiru Jega (North-West).
NATHANIEL AKHIGBE
