President Muhammadu Buhari has reappointed Professor Mahmood Yakubu as Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
His first five-year term expired this October.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, in a statement on Tuesday, said that President Buhari had nominated Professor Yakubu for an appointment as INEC chairman for a second and final term in a letter addressed to the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan.
He explained that the President’s action was in accordance with the provision of Section 154 (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).
Professor Yakubu’s reappointment is, however, subject to approval by members of the upper chamber of the National Assembly.
“I am pleased to present for confirmation by the Senate, the nomination of Professor Mahmood Yakubu for appointment as Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for a second and final term,” President Buhari was quoted as saying in the letter.
He first appointed the INEC chairman to oversee the activities of the electoral umpire in November 2015, six months after he assumed the office of the President.
Yakubu’s record so far has not been particularly spectacular with the university presiding over the last general election which ranks among the worst in terms of credibility and process in the history of elections in Nigeria.
The election which saw president Buhari reflected for the second term cast huge doubts on the neutrality of the electoral umpire, which many Nigerians believed were working towards a given result.
