President Bola Tinubu, Wednesday night, reportedly directed the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, to proceed on terminal leave ahead of the expiration of his tenure, for allegedly “betraying the All Progressives Congress (APC) government” that appointed him.
Yakubu is expected to end his two-term tenure of 10 years in the first week of December 2025, as he was first appointed as INEC chair in 2015 by President Muhammadu Buhari.
He was reappointed by President Buhari after his first tenure lapsed and confirmed by the Senate in December 2020. No INEC Chairman has served two terms since the establishment of the commission.
The report alleged that Yakubu was asked to suspend official duties and proceed on leave, a development that has thrown the commission’s schedule into uncertainty.
The reported directive led to the abrupt cancellation of the chairman’s final quarterly consultative meeting with political parties and a planned session with civil society organisations.
Though The Guardian can confirm that the quarterly consultative meeting of INEC, which was scheduled to begin on Wednesday with an interactive session with political parties, was abruptly postponed, it remains unclear whether the development is connected to the alleged presidential directive.
Insider sources say the move comes in response to what they described as Mahmood’s “last-minute betrayal” of the All Progressives Congress government that appointed him.
Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma reportedly met with President Tinubu shortly after the President returned from a 12-day working vacation, alleging that Mahmood’s efforts to register new political parties at the end of his tenure had disrupted Tinubu’s preparations for a second term.
The governor also claimed that Mahmood was covertly backing a candidate in the Imo State governorship election.
Following this briefing, Tinubu reportedly requested that Mahmood suspend all official duties and proceed on terminal leave.
Tinubu is now expected to submit the name of a new INEC Chairman to the National Assembly in the coming days.
But responding to the report, the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Mr Rotimi Oyekanmi, urged Nigerians to first consult the 1999 Constitution before drawing conclusions.
“The first thing you need to do is to find out what the law says about the appointment and removal of the INEC Chairman and National Commissioners,” he said.
The 1999 Constitution clearly outlines the process in Section 154(1), which states:
“Except in the case of ex-officio members or where other provisions are made in this Constitution, the appointment of a person to the office of the Chairman or member of any of the bodies so established shall be made by the President and shall be subject to confirmation by the Senate.”
It also provides safeguards against arbitrary removal in Section 157(1): “A person holding any of the offices to which this section applies may only be removed by the President acting on an address supported by two-thirds majority of the Senate praying that he be so removed for inability to discharge the functions of the office (whether arising from infirmity of mind or body or any other cause) or for misconduct.”
