Professor Mahmood Yakubu has been confirmed by the Senate as the Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
His confirmation followed the consideration of the report of the Senate Committee on INEC, chaired by Senator Kabiru Gaya (APC, Kano).
The INEC chairman was reappointed after his first tenure elapsed in October this year. He was first appointed as INEC chair on October 21, 2015 by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Senator Gaya, while presenting the committee’s report, said the nominee possessed the requisite qualifications for the INEC top job and therefore recommended his confirmation.
Yakubu nomination was backed by opposition leaders including the Senate Minority leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe who commended him for the technological innovations he introduced at INEC, especially the transmission of election results to the central portal from polling units.
He’s moving in the right direction and we should give him the necessary support, said Senator Sandy Onor (PDP, Cross River).
Senate President Ahmad Lawan congratulated the nominee and wished him success in his second term.
Prof Yakubu had, during his screening last week, said he would deepen the use of technology in the conduct of elections in his second term as chairman of the commission.
According to him, the deployment of technology had helped improved Nigeria’s electoral processes despite misgivings from some quarters on its efficacy.
He also noted that the Commission was working hard to ensure that scheduled elections are not postponed again.
Prof Yakubu blamed low voter turnout during elections on the poor performance of political office holders, electoral violence and lack of voter mobilisation.
He however said the Commission would continue to work hard in the area of voter education. He also stressed the need for political parties to do more in mobilizing voters during elections.
Prof Yakubu also appealed to the National Assembly to expeditiously conclude work on the amendment of Electoral Act latest by the end of first quarter of 2021.
He also said the Commission needs to construct strong rooms in all the 36 states of the federation and FCT to prevent smart card readers and other election materials from burning in case of fire incident.
