The Trail Blazer in INEC

The incumbent Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu has broken the jinx to become the first Chairman of the Commission to be re-appointed for a second term


When in October, President Muhammadu Buhari forwarded a letter to the Nigerian senate announcing his re-nomination of the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, many Nigerians belief he might be the first to secure a second term as the nation’s chief election officer. This is in-spite of the fact that bookmakers felt that the lacuna left in his exiting the seat and the period of confirmation may be exploited by ambitious politicians.

True to type, the ever calculative politicians went into works, trying to exploit the situation. Event watchers who predicted that the nomination may be derailed, hinged their argument on the delay by the president who should have nominated him earlier enough so as to leave no loophole. In spite of the shrewd politicking that followed, the president stuck to his guns. Thus, on Tuesday, December 1st, 2020, senate approved his re-appointment at plenary. This was as his first tenure of five years expired in November and he stepped down and handed over to retired Air Vice Marshal Ahmed Muazu, a national commissioner. Having found favour in the sight of the commander-in-chief who asked him to come back against all odds and interest, Yakubu also had a smooth sail at the senate screening and confirmation. It is therefore safe to say that there is no doubt that Professor Mahmood Yakubu is indeed a jinx breaker at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), being the first chairman of that Commission to get a second term at that exalted and influential office.

It is on record that in the history of the Commission since inception, from the pre-independence era through independence to military interregnum up to the period that democracy has gained currency in the country, some twenty years now, no election umpire chairman has, before now, served two tenures. From Chief Eyo Esua (1964–1966), Chief Michael Ani (1976 – 1979), Justice Victor Ovie Whisky (1979 – 1983), Professor Eme Awa (1987–1989), Professor Humphrey Nwosu (1989–1993), Professor Okon Uya and Chief Sumner Dagogo-Jack (1994–1998), Justice Ephraim Akpata (1998 – 2000), Dr. Abel Guobadia (2000-2005), Professor Maurice Iwu (2005-2010), Professor Attahiru Jega (2010-2015), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu (2015-Date). It has always been a one term tenure until the professor of History, Yakubu, broke that record. Nigeria has passed through so many Election Organizing Commissions, in its chequered history of democracy, dating back to the period before independence, when the Electoral Commission of Nigeria (ECN) was inaugurated in 1958 to conduct the 1959 federal elections.

That colonial Commission, ECN, was headed by an expatriate, Ronald Edward Wraith, with four Nigerian members representing each region and the Federal Capital Territory of Lagos. The first indigenous electoral Commission in Nigeria was however established in 1960, with the name, Federal Electoral Commission (FEC), to conduct the first post-independence federal and regional elections of 1964 and 1965, with Eyo Esua as the Chief Electoral Officer. Of all the Commissions, it was the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), under Professor Maurice Iwu that witnessed a very contentious battle as the then President Goodluck Jonathan was locked under serious dilemma on whether to retain or sack the Professor of Pharmacology cum chief election umpire.

The anti Iwu camp, which was majorly dominated and sponsored by rich politicians from the opposition camp, however had their way, when the President yielded to pressure to sack Iwu, who conducted the 2003 and 2007 presidential elections that returned former Head of State, General Olusegun Obasanjo and late Umaru Yar’Adua, both of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) as presidents. Following Iwu’s ouster, President Goodluck Jonathan nominated the renowned political scientist from Kebbi State, Professor Attahiru Jega, as the new INEC chairman on 8th June 2010, to conduct the 2011 and 2015 polls. Aside from the postponements and violent skirmishes that trailed the 2011 general elections in some northern states, both the 2011 and 2015 elections conducted by the Attahiru Jega-led INEC were acknowledged as free and peaceful by both international and local observers. This also earned Nigeria some commendations in the outside world Nevertheless, Jega was criticized by both the opposition and the ruling party in the run-up to the 2015 general elections, following his Commission’s surprise decision to postpone all the elections, citing insecurity.

Despite declaring the opposition winner of the 2015 general elections, amidst protests from certain quarters, as well as the accolades that trailed the 2015 general elections, Jega’s tenure was not renewed by President Buhari, leading to his leaving office upon the expiration of his tenure on 31 June 2015. With the exit of Professor Jega as INEC chairman, President Buhari, on October 21, 2015, forwarded the name of Mahmood Yakubu, a Professor of History from Bauchi State to the Nigerian senate for consideration as the 5th INEC chairman. Upon his screening and clearance by the senate, Yakubu succeeded Amina Zakari, who had acted in that capacity since June 2015 when Jega left office.

Yakubu, a former Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), came to INEC with a tall resume and an impressive record of intelligence as the first Nigerian from the North to obtain a first-class degree in history In his inaugural chat with the media, Yakubu had described himself as an accomplished Nigerian, having come from a humble home, “from a humble teaching background to a lecturer who rose to the highest academic rank of professor. “God has given me his grace, to the extent that I also rose from becoming TETFUND Executive Secretary to this exalted job of becoming my country’s Chief Election Umpire.” A humble Yakubu explained, with the assurance that he would raise INEC’s bar from where Professor Attahiru Jega left it.

It was not however a rosy beginning for Professor Yakubu and his Commission, especially as it was adjudged a complete failure at his first task of conducting the governorship election in Kogi state. On November 22, 2015, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the Kogi state governorship election inconclusive, after it had earlier announced the results of the election from all the 21 local government areas in the State. The results announced in all the polling units which make up the state, saw the APC candidate, late Prince Abubakar Audu, scoring 240,867 votes, while then incumbent Governor, Captain Idris Wada, of the PDP scored 199,514. The margin between the two candidates was 41,353 votes.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which declared the election inconclusive, after Audu was pronounced dead, while counting was on, cited other legal reasons to back its action. The conduct of that Kogi governorship election left an impression of a Yakubu led INEC that lacked the capacity to move Nigeria’s democracy to the next level, after Jega. The impression was further heightened when the same INEC conducted governorship elections that were adjudged flawed and questionable in Ekiti and Osun states. The elections were perceived as retrogression from the gains made in free and fair election in 2011 and 2015.

INEC under Professor Mahmood Yakubu continued with its wobbling and fumbling, up to the last-minute postponement of 2019 presidential and National Assembly elections which no doubt put Yakubu on the spotlight. As if those elections were trial grounds for the Yakubu led INEC, the Commission rose up to embrace the challenges on board, as it conducted several other mid-term and bye – elections with several laudable innovations Starting from its laudable innovation in the use of Zpad and direct electronic upload of election results at the polling units, INEC under Yakubu may have given Nigerians hope for future polls as the innovations have reduced the risk of result falsifications, hijack of ballot boxes and many other challenges.

Starting with the Nasarawa Central state Assembly bye – election, to the last two governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states, coupled with its push for electronics voting, as well as electronics transmission of results, INEC has through its innovations raised the bar in the conduct of elections in Nigeria, as well as hope of electorates in future elections. This however, can only be achievable, if the government plays its own part by giving the Commission a free hand to conduct free, fair and credible elections. This it can do by ensuring that like it did in Edo and Ondo, future elections are not militarized As the lobbyists and other interest groups who have failed to replace Yakubu with their own candidates, the obvious point to canvass here is that despite its shabby beginning, the present INEC under Professor Mahmood Yakubu has raised the hope of Nigerian electorates ahead of future polls, going by its recent result oriented innovations.

Interestingly, few opposition mounted against his possible retention for a second term in office. Reports eventually emerged about intense lobbying by different interest groups who were angling for certain interests. While some of the powerful politicians tilted to a Yakubu’s second tenure, others would rather want him replaced so as to have their way at the Commission especially as the 2023 presidential election beckons.

Professor Yakubu has also attracted lots of admirers especially from the recent feat he has achieved at the Commission, hence some analysts have maintained that, like it is said in football, “you cannot change a winning team.” However, the storm is now over and the chicken has come home to roost as Professor Mahmood Yakubu has emerged as a jinx breaker at the INEC as he eventually secured a second term in office. His reappointment has no doubt presented him with a rare opportunity to conclusively see to the fruition of the reforms he has put in place and to further clean up the nation’s electoral system. This is one legacy he cannot afford to toy with.