Prof Mahmood Yakubu handing over to Mrs Agbamuche as INEC Acting Chairman
After a ten year tenure, Prof Mahmood Yakubu on Tuesday bowed out as Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
He handed over to Mrs. May Agbamuche, the oldest serving National Commissioner of the commission, in acting capacity.
Yakubu announced his exit at the ongoing meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners at the INEC headquarters in Abuja.
He appealed to his former colleagues to cooperate with the Acting chairman pending the time a substantive head is appointed.
President Bola Tinubu is expected to appoint his successor soon, subject to a Senate confirmation.
Against this backdrop, registered political parties under the aegis of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) have proposed the establishment of an independent body to appoint the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), its National Commissioners, and Secretary to ensure neutrality and strengthen Nigeria’s electoral integrity.
IPAC National Chairman, Dr Yusuf Mamman Dantalle, made this proposal during a consultative meeting between leaders of political parties and the House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review held at the Wells Carlton Hotel and Apartments in Abuja, on Monday.
Dantalle, who was represented by his deputy, Dipo Olayoku, reportedly said the current system where the President appoints the INEC Chairman and other key officials compromises the commission’s independence and fuels public distrust.
“To promote the independence of INEC, the power to appoint the Chairman, Secretary and National Commissioners should be removed from the executive.
“Instead, an Independent Appointment Committee (IAC) should be established, composed of representatives from all registered political parties, civil society organisations, the National Judicial Council, and a committee of the National Assembly drawn from both the majority and minority caucuses,” he said.
He said such an arrangement would ensure inclusivity, transparency, and credibility in the process of appointing the leadership of the nation’s electoral umpire.
Yakubu was first appointed the INEC chairman by former President Muhammadu Buhari to oversee the activities of the electoral umpire in November 2015, six months after he assumed the office as the President.
He completed his first term in office as the electoral body’s chairman in 2020, and was reappointed for a second tenure by President Buhari.
Yakubu’s reappointment by President Buhari made him the first person to serve as INEC chairman for two terms.
He took over from Prof Attahiru Jega, with INEC conducting many elections, including the 2019 and 2023 general elections.
With Yakubu having completed his tenure at the helm of INEC affairs, Nigerians, along with civil society organisations, are looking forward to seeing who succeeds him.
Any time from now, President Tinubu is expected to nominate a substantive successor to Yakubu, and civil society groups are already demanding transparency in the process.
Last month, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) urged President Bola Tinubu to “urgently disclose details of the selection and appointment process for the successor to Professor Mahmood Yakubu.”
SERAP urged the President to “disclose the number and names of candidates for INEC chairman and whether the Council of State has been consulted or would be consulted in making the appointment, as constitutionally required.”
The group stated this in a letter by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, a copy obtained by Channels Television.
According to the letter dated September 27, the group asked Tinubu to “use the opportunity of the appointment of a new INEC chairman to reconsider your appointment of at least three alleged members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) of the INEC and to nominate non-members of a political party as replacement.”
“The selection and appointment process for Mr Yakubu’s replacement cannot and should not be ‘a closed shop.’ A transparent and accountable process would serve legitimate public interests,” the letter partly read.
Also commenting on the appointment of a new INEC chairman, the Executive Director of Yiaga Africa, Samson Itodo, said that Nigeria needs an individual with an unblemished character as the national chairman of the electoral body.
Itodo said anyone who would succeed Yakubu, should have no political affiliation and be courageous to do the lawful thing, no matter whose ox is gored.
The Yiaga Africa leader spoke when he appeared as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday, September 24, 2025.
He also noted that the remarkable reforms recorded by INEC had been dampened by electoral fraud.
