There is no doubt that the reappointment of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof Mamood Yakubu, for a second the term in office, is unprecedented. None of his predecessors at the commission enjoyed such a rare opportunity.
Also, Yakubu’s second term in office was confirmed by the Senate about a week after he was nominated for a fresh term by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Although the President’s letter was read at the Senate last week, Buhari had, on October 27, announced his decision to reappoint the INEC boss.
Yakubu was first appointed INEC chairman in November 2015. He took over from Prof Attahiru Jega, who supervised the conduct of the 2015 general elections.
Following Yakubu’s reappointment, Nigerians have, however, been apprehensive of what will become of the commission’s future, especially with regard to the conduct of the 2023 general elections.
‘I don’t believe the man (Yakubu) has done so well to be nominated again by the President or confirmed by the Senate. It is time we based our conduct in this country on merit. The INEC chair does not deserve a second term in office’
During Yakubu’s first term in the office as INEC chair, the commission recorded a high number of inconclusive elections and electoral disputes that were eventually decided by the courts.
This development has led to the call for caution on the part of the newly reappointed INEC boss by notable Nigerians, warning that the conduct of the commission under Yakubu may either make or mar the country’s quest for credible leadership in 2023.
Speaking on the development, National Chairman of Young Democratic Party, Georgina Dakpokpo, said the INEC chair had not done enough to merit a fresh tenure in office.
According to her, the commission under Yakubu had witnessed setbacks concerning the conduct of free and fair elections as expected by many Nigerians.
Dakpokpo said, “I don’t believe the man (Yakubu) has done so well to be nominated again by the President or confirmed by the Senate. It is time we based our conduct in this country on merit. The INEC chair does not deserve a second term in office. Now that he has been given the second term, I hope he will use it to redeem himself.
“There were so many issues that followed the 2019 general elections. We had so many court cases. Also the issue of the voter registration was another problem. Another is the issue of logistic. He needs to get this right. That was one of the things that led to the extension of the election.
“Also, we have to consider INEC’s constitutional roles. For instance, parties are expected to submit their expenditure and laws guiding the amount they are spending. How many parties were penalized for that? Parties didn’t obey the rules and INEC didn’t do anything about that.
“Also, we need to know how INEC spent the money given to them. The money is tax payers’ money. All these should have been on the INEC website by now. Even the results of the 2019 elections by now should have been on the site. As I said, he has had the golden opportunity that he didn’t merit. I hope he builds on it.”
Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party in Lagos State, Deji Doherty, in his own view, said Yakubu’s reappointment by President Buhari had ethnic undertones.
According to him, “The INEC chairman was yet to answer questions on how he was able to conduct elections in Boko Haram-occupied areas, where he claimed APC won with landslide victories. How was he able to conduct election in the IDPs camps?
“We understood that Buhari is the major problem here. His appointments are based on tribal sentiment and that has been the major problem in this country.
“He has been very undemocratic in that position. He does not believe in democracy. He believes only in autocracy, nepotism and tribal sentiment. He only believes in his own tribe. He is dividing the country every time.
“Yakubu failed in his constitutional obligations in his first tenure and we all know that.
“The guidelines he presented to the parties was a cooked up one, which can never pass a test of time. If you look at it, you will see the ambiguity and all the loopholes they have left there for them to explore. So, on that note, I don’t believe that he merits the second term that Buhari has handed over to him.”
‘There is no doubt that he (Yakubu) started slowly. He was not getting things right. He was confronted with a lot of challenges. There was the issue of a communication gap within INEC and even with political parties, and politicians who tried to undermine the processes in INEC’
But National Chairman of the National Conscience Party, Tanko Yinusa, said the INEC chairman, Yakubu, towards the end of his first term in office, demonstrated the desire to make up for his inadequacies.
Yinusa said, “There is no doubt that he (Yakubu) started slowly. He was not getting things right. He was confronted with a lot of challenges. There was the issue of a communication gap within INEC and even with political parties, and politicians who tried to undermine the processes in INEC.
“Eventually, he finished up his first term strongly with improvements that we noticed in Edo and Ondo elections. Even though some of the challenges that some were crying about needed to be corrected, he finished the first term with a lot of corrections and improvements.
“That is the reason some us don’t want to throw away the baby with the bath water. The experience gathered by Yakubu during his first tenure should be used now to consolidate the second tenure so that Nigerians can have a proper electioneering towards the 2023 elections. Of course, what I have seen so far is a work in progress and I believe he should be able to deliver better in 2023.”
1stnewsonline
