Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, has assured that essential amendments to the Electoral Act will be concluded ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He also dismissed circulating rumours of his removal from office, affirming his continued role as Nigeria’s Chief Electoral Officer.
Speaking to State House correspondents after the swearing-in of two new INEC National Commissioners by President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Professor Yakubu revealed that the commission, in collaboration with stakeholders, reviewed the 2023 elections and produced 142 recommendations, eight of which require changes to the Electoral Act.
The INEC Chairman clarified the purpose of his visit to the Villa, stating it was to witness the inauguration of two commissioners representing the South East and North West regions, respectively.
“We are here today, basically for the swearing in of two national commissioners. As you are aware, the commission is made up of a chairman and 12 national commissioners drawn on the basis of two commissioners per geopolitical zone. So vacancies existed for the North West and the South East, and the Senate has screened and confirmed the nominees, and Mister President today performed the swearing in,” he said.
“With the latest additions, we now have almost the full compliments of commissioners of the commission. As we are aware also, about two weeks ago or so, we lost one of our commissioners, Major General Modibbo Alkali (retd), may his soul rest in peace. So now, we have almost the full compliments of commissioners.”
On electoral reform, Yakubu noted that the commission has been working closely with the National Assembly and recently held a retreat in Lagos with the joint Senate and House Committees on Electoral Reform.
“Thereafter, the National Assembly is going to organize a public hearing, and it’s after the public hearing that now a new bill will, at the end of the day, be submitted to the President for assent,” he said.
He added, “So, we’re working with the National Assembly on electoral reform, but at this point, I’m not going to give you any more details. You will hear from the National Assembly whose responsibility it is, but we reviewed the 2023, general elections on our own.
“We engaged with the stakeholders. We came up with 142 recommendations out of this 142 recommendations, eight require constitutional or Electoral Act amendment, and we discussed this with members of the National Assembly.
“So far so good, we are happy with our discussions with them, and we are also happy with the speed with which they want to proceed so that we’ll have some necessary amendments done to the Electoral Act ahead of the 2027, general elections.”
Responding to claims about his alleged removal, Professor Yakubu firmly stated, “I don’t think we need to waste time so much about this unnecessary speculations. As far as the law is concerned, and as far as I’m aware, I remain the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, and under the Constitution, the Chief Electoral commissioner of the Federation, and under the Electoral Act, the returning officer for the presidential election.”
The newly sworn-in INEC National Commissioners are Mallam Tukur Abdulrazaq Yusuf for the North West and Professor Sunday Nwambam Aja from Ebonyi State for the South East.
President Tinubu also inaugurated two members of the Code of Conduct Bureau board, Ikpeme Kenneth Ndem from Cross River State and retired Justice Buba Ibrahim Nyaure from Taraba State.