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From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Few months from now, precisely by October, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu will finally bow out as the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) after serving out his maximum two tenures, totalling 10 years.
Expectedly, his inevitable exit, from the exalted position, is already contributing in heightening political tension and creating attention, not only because of the choice of his successor but also because there will, perhaps not be any opportunity for him to supervise another major general or off-cycle governorship election, to right whatever perceived wrongs many Nigerians hold against him while superintending over that critical and sensitive position for a decade.
His tenure, no doubt, has been remarkably marked with significant achievements, including the introduction of automation initiatives aimed at enhancing electoral efficiency, transparency, and accountability nationwide.
The innovations include the Online Voter Registration Portal that streamlined the registration process, reducing manual errors, increasing accessibility, and enhancing overall voter experience significantly.
Election game changers like the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal, linked to BVAS at the Polling Units (PUs) for a real-time transmission of the uploaded results on Election Day, is also another milestone credited to him.
Equally significant is that under his leadership, for the first time since the restoration of democracy in 1999, not a single sheet of ballot paper was printed outside Nigeria during the 2023 general elections.
His ingenious introduction of Automated Fingerprints Identification System similarly strengthened voter registration verification, ensured the integrity of the electoral process and more importantly prevented duplicate registrations.
Also, part of his commendable innovations is the deployment of Smart Card Readers to verify voters, which has reduced electoral malpractices, promoted accountability, and ensured accurate voter identification.
Other technological advancements to his credit include Geographic Information System Mapping for enhanced electoral boundary demarcation and an Election Observation Portal for real-time monitoring, and enabling swift intervention. Interestingly, these innovations, to a greater extent, have actually strengthened electoral integrity, ensured seamless navigation of the processes and enhanced user experience for election stakeholders nationwide.
However, on the flip side, despite recording such laudable achievements, negative perceptions and sporadic attacks hauled at Yakubu lately seem to have eclipsed the positives he recorded as they have continually presented him as one of the worst electoral umpire chairmen that oversaw activities in the commission since the beginning of the Fourth Republic.
With the public perception regrettably tilting against him, observers say that Yakubu may likely be remembered in the annals of Nigeria’s democratic history as the only INEC Chairman who declared a presidential election in the middle of the night.
To many election observers and democracy watchers, Yakubu again botched another bright opportunity to correct the negative impression about him from many Nigerians when he failed to conduct generally accepted credible elections in successive polls since the ill-fated 2023 presidential election glitch, despite the opportunities provided to him in the off-cycle governorship elections held in Kogi, Imo, Bayelsa, Edo and Ondo states.
Apart from the Edo and Ondo elections still under litigation, there were widespread condemnations over the discrepancies associated with them. INEC’s conduct of the elections, in addition to the chairman’s lukewarm approach in handling, particularly the pre-filled answer sheets in Kogi State in 2023, made many to doubt if his administration has really made the commission live up to its true name, independent.
Part of the nasty public impression about Yakubu’s scorecard was amplified recently when former governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, took a swipe at him with uncomplimentary remarks, painting him in such derogatory manners as the worst thing to have happened to the commission.
Amaechi, a former Minister of Transportation, had bluntly accused and described Yakubu as a biased electoral umpire in the same category as his predecessor, Prof Maurice Iwu.
Speaking while appearing on a television programme, Amaechi said: “The current chairman of INEC, if he was the chairman of INEC in 2015, we (APC) would not have won. That’s an important point. May God bless (Attahiru) Jega. Because the ground rules were clear. The current chairman of INEC can only be compared to Iwu.
“When we were to register APC, Jega opened the door and we complied with the registration requirements. He got APC registered. The current man, if you comply with all these, he would not register you,” Amaechi stated.
Speaking further, the former Speaker of Rivers House of Assembly also accused Yakubu of bias, explaining: “Already, INEC is biased. So, the only thing I can tell you now is that, looking at the way Nigeria has run elections, even Option A4 led us forward. At least, there was a lot of transparency. You were sure of what was going on.
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“Then we came back to meet people like Iwu and others, and the current one and things got worse. So, you don’t know whether to say we are progressing or we are regressing. There is a state capture using the electoral institution as a machine,” he added.
Amaechi may be right in his assessment of the rating of many Nigerians and the international community, because many believed that Prof. Yakubu presided over the widely criticised 2023 general election, said to have been marred by massive irregularities, manipulation of its technology and allegations of rigging by the major political parties.
Many critics also believed that with the massive investment INEC made in technological innovations, Yakubu had the opportunity to write his name in gold by conducting the most transparent and widely acceptable elections in Nigeria’s history, if he had continued with the credibility of the Edo State off-cycle governorship election he conducted in 2020.
But regardless of whatever positive or negative perceptions about him in the public space, history, in the words of Rotimi Lawrence Oyekanmi, his Chief Press Secretary, will remember Prof Yakubu as a reformer, transformer, welfarist and game-changing innovationist who turned around the commission for the better.
He said: “One sterling quality that has worked in Prof. Yakubu’s favour and which has also contributed to his success is his preference for consensus building. He consults extensively on any new policy or some changes to existing policies. That was why he succeeded in expanding polling units across Nigeria from 119, 974 to 176,846 – a feat the commission could not achieve for 25 years.
“He also applied consensus-building principles to get the National Assembly to enact the new Electoral Act 2022, and persuade stakeholders to accept BVAS, Online Voter Registration and IReV portals among others. He went beyond the call of duty to get them to support many implemented electoral system reforms, concentrating on fundamental issues, and paying no attention to frivolities or armchair critics.
“He believes in professionalism and under him, some outstanding Directors have become National Commissioners and Resident Electoral Commissioners which has served the commission better. He takes the welfare of staff very seriously and ensures their promotion as and when due, just as he has increased various allowances for them. He is very compassionate in offering a job to a corps member who lost his sight in an accident while on election duty.
“Insurance claims/benefits are also paid promptly to ad-hoc staff that were involved in all manners of mishaps while on election duties. He also collaborated with development partners, especially in area of capacity development programmes for staff,” his spokesman said.
Naturally, with Yakubu, facing imminent public judgment over his stewardship, the clamour for a better replacement has heightened, especially as his successor, supposedly, will be expected to significantly impact the credibility of the November Anambra State governorship election and the 2027 general elections, with President Bola Tinubu expected to run for a re-election.
As Yakubu’s tenure draws to a close, the ongoing discussions regarding his successor have sparked renewed calls for comprehensive electoral reforms and central to the discussions is the need for reforms that will strengthen the integrity of the electoral system through systemic changes.
They include issues like how the leadership of the INEC is appointed, and ensuring that the selection process is transparent, merit-based, and free from political influence and interference. The appointment process for INEC leadership, according to pundits, remains questionable.
Little wonder why many Nigerians have started showing more than a passing interest in the qualities of the successor, suggesting that such merits as credibility, strong-will, capacity, capability and independent-mindedness to go against the president who will be re-contesting, should be the minimum standard.
Apart from other criteria expected of Yakubu’s replacement, is the clamour for the stoppage of the incumbent president from nominating and appointing the commission’s chairman.
Already at the forefront of the mobilisation for the reforms are pro-democracy activists, lobbying both chambers of the National Assembly for legislation to convene an independent panel membership of eight institutions to screen and nominate three persons for the president and the National Assembly to select and approve one of them.
The activists, under the auspices of the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre LSD) and Women’s Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative (WRAPA) sent a memorandum to the National Assembly on the appointment criteria for INEC Chairman and Commissioners, suggesting that the electoral umpire boss must be a person with impeccable character.
“INEC leadership criteria should be explicitly stated in the Third Schedule of the Constitution of Nigeria or relevant sections. Key qualifications should include a strong academic foundation, in addition to relevant experience in governance, law, or public service. And he must have proven leadership ability, demonstrated through past roles or positions,” the pro-democracy activities demanded.
The forum had equally recommended that the institutions to form members of the screening committee should be the nominees from the National Judicial Council (NJC) as the chairman, the president of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), as the co-chairman, presidents of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), National Union of Journalists (NUJ), Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) as members while the Secretary of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) will serve as the screening committee’s secretary.
“As the country faces challenges related to political inequity, voter engagement, and the integrity of electoral processes, how leaders are appointed to oversee these mechanisms has become critically important. Concerns about transparency, neutrality, and potential political influence dominate discussions, with critics asserting that the appointment process is frequently marred by political manipulation, which undermines the commission’s independence and erodes public trust,” the pro-activists noted.
The questions begging for answers are whether the president will voluntarily concede and allow the independent committee to screen and recommend names, and whether the National Assembly will legislate on the memorandum, especially the suggestion for electronic voting. It seems only time will tell.
