The controversy that has greeted the appointment of Prof. Mahmud Yakubu as new Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), seems contrived, if not justified, because though it is within the remit of the president’s authority to appoint the INEC chairman, the choice of Yakubu leaves much to be desired in terms of public morality and the abuse of executive privilege. After Prof. Attahiru Jega made good his promise not to continue with the job when his tenure expired in June, the public expectation was that the need for character and experience would outweigh religious, ethnic and professional considerations in the selection of the new electoral umpire. The president misread public opinion by appointing Yakubu, in what arguably, is a malign and shameless display of nepotism. Little surprise a tower of babbling voices have criticized the appointment with the Voice of the South-South (VSS) group saying the choice of Yakubu was “a deliberate show of bias, moral corruption and nepotism” against other geo-political zones.
The VSS, comprising concerned political leaders and professionals from the six states of the South-South geo-political region, recalled in a statement that: “While Obasanjo appointed INEC boss from the South-East, former President Goodluck Jonathan appointed from the North. Both were away from their kinsmen to avoid bias in the electoral processes. Jonathan’s unbiased appointment into INEC and the outcome brought President Buhari into office… we have observed that the appointment of the new INEC Chairman, who is another of President Buhari’s kinsmen, is a deliberate show of intent to rig and manipulate the coming December 5 governorship election in Bayelsa State and other elections in states of the South-South,” the group alleged in a statement by the Bayelsa State chairman of the association, Barrister Alex Dumbo.
The National Council of States (NCS) rose from its first meeting under the Buhari administration with the ratification of the recommendation of the President for the appointment of Yakubu, the immediate past Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) as the new INEC Chairman. The Council also approved the recommendation to name the Acting INEC Chairperson, Amina Bala Zakari, a former Acting INEC Chairman, Prince Solomon Adedeji Soyebi, Dr. Muhammad Mustapha Lekki and Dr. Taiye Okoosi-Simbile as National Commissioners. Yakubu, a Professor of History served as the Assistant Secretary in charge of Finance and Administration in the recently concluded National Conference. In the wake of the cancellation of elections in Rivers and other South-south States, Yakubu has his work cut out for him to prove his detractors wrong. He must deliver free, fair and credible elections.
Sustaining a nation’s democracy requires credible elections, run by a credible umpire. The challenge, therefore, for Yakubu is how to consolidate on the gains of the Jega years. This task requires political sagacity combined with managerial acumen in view of the fact that elections are due to hold in Bayelsa and Kogi states later this year. Yakubu must not go below Jega’s performance. Indeed, if he cannot beat Jega’s performance, the least Nigerians expect is for him to be at the same level of Jega’s performance. Therefore, Nigerians expect the new INEC chairman to pave the way for a better democratic consolidation. The country cannot afford to have as an electoral umpire a person who would set the nation back by conducting a controversial election.
Yakubu must not lose sight of the fact that Jega’s commendable performance is an affirmation that Nigeria does not lack human capital to drive its institutions. Indeed, from independence in 1960, the electoral umpire portfolio has been occupied by some of the nation’s best and most competent people drawn from diverse fields. For Yakubu, history beckons. He will be following in the footsteps of people with compelling credentials like Eyo Ita Esua, Michael Ani, Justice Victor Ovie-Whiskey, Prof. Eme Awa, Prof. Humphrey Nwosu, Justice Ephraim Apata, Dr. Abel Guobadia, and Prof. Maurice Iwu, who have held that office.
What marked Jega out was that in building on the legacies of these Nigerians, he raised the bar of credibility and performance as INEC’s chief. Through Jega’s managerial acumen and sincerity of purpose, Nigeria was able to record one of the most credible elections that the country has ever witnessed. And this was at a time of heightened tension and doomsday predictions when it was feared that the conduct of elections would lead to the disintegration of Nigeria. Aside from his introduction of the biometric data capturing system, Jega brought to bear on the job his personal integrity. And this was why the APC; an opposition party was able to defeat an incumbent president and there was no long-drawn acrimony after the presidential election.
Yakubu must take a hard and unsentimental look at what Jega achieved and why he succeeded and learn from them. To succeed like Jega, Yakubu must have an independent mind and be far removed from political partisanship. Yakubu must demonstrate that he has the conscience and character that would defy pressure from any quarters; he must not succumb to pressure on account of doing the bidding of his employer, especially the executive arm of government or the ruling APC party. Yakubu must also come to his new job with humility that would allow him to admit errors as Jega did and improve on his own performance in the course of the job.
Since Jega’s success was facilitated by his introduction of advanced technologies in the electoral process, Yakubu must improve on the use of the biometric data capturing system. The deployment of advanced technologies would help in avoiding the manipulation of voter registers and election results, thereby rendering the whole electoral process credible. The credibility of future elections would also be enhanced by a regular registration of voters. Yakubu owes it as duty to Nigerians and President Buhari who appointed him; to ensure the organization of free, fair and credible elections and thereby deepen the nation’s democracy.
The journey to Nigeria’s sorry pass over fraudulent elections that circumvent the peoples’ will as expressed through the ballot box, has been a long sad one with INEC building its credibility with one hand and tearing it down with the other. Nigerians are tired of institutional failures engendered by leadership inadequacy. While Yakubu may be an experienced and highly respected professional, he comes to the new job with a burden of nepotism hanging over his head like an albatross. The onus of proving doubters and cynics wrong lies on him. If Yakubu makes a success of his assignment and avoids the numerous minefields strewn on his path, history will have a rich chapter on him. Now that he has the opportunity to write his own testimonial, he should keep his focus on that possible chapter in history.
