Olisa Agbakoba, former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has asked President Bola Tinubu to remove the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Mahmoud Yakubu.
Agbakoba, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) stated this in a statement on Thursday by his Media Assistant Niyi Odunmorayo.
The senior lawyer noted that INEC chairman must leave office by resignation or removal, otherwise electoral reform task in Nigeria will be impeded.
He further commended the President for removing Godwin Emefiele as the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); AbdulRasheed Bawa as the Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
He equally commended the President for removing a petrol subsidy and forex corruption in the country.
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According to Agbakoba, “congratulations to President Tinubu for getting rid of Emefiele and Bawa and fuel subsidy and forex corruption. Endemic corruption has suffered a massive blow.
“Next is for the president to dismantle INEC. Everyone will agree that logistically, the 2023 elections are the worst in our history. I do not refer to the merits of the results of the elections. Many results are disputed and are in Tribunals. Both petitioners and respondents suffered at the hands of an incompetent INEC.
“As we await rulings from the courts massive reforms of the electoral framework ought to begin but this means that the INEC Chairman will have to leave office by resignation or removal, otherwise the reform task will be impeded.
“I add very quickly that the suggested reforms have nothing to do with the merits of election results at all. Both winners and losers of the elections were victims of the failure of INEC. Confidence in Nigeria’s democracy will be enhanced by a deep cleansing of INEC.”
The INEC chairman was heavily criticized for the conduct of the 2023 general election, especially the failure of the commission to transmit election results electronically through the use of Bimodal Voter Authentication System (BIVAS).
Former President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Yakubu as INEC chairman in November 2015 to succeed Attahiru Jega, who supervised the 2015 general election. He was reappointed by Buhari in 2020 despite opposition of several stakeholders.
