Prof Mahmood Yakubu
Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, will on Monday (today) begin a fresh term in office after a five year tenure.
He was reappointed by President Muhammadu Buhari, making him the first INEC chairman to have his tenure extended by another five years.
Yakubu will be handing over to himself at a ceremony to be conducted at the Conference Room of INEC in Maitama, Abuja.
However, opinions have been divided on the reappointment of Yakubu for another five years.
A Professor of Law and former chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, believes that five years as INEC chair was enough.
The Yoruba socio-political organization, Afenifere, through its National Publicity Secretary, Yinka Odumakin had demanded that Yakubu’s successor “should be from one of the Southern zones.”
A political think tank, Centre for Democracy and Development, through its Director, Idayat Hassan, however, said since a national commissioner could serve two terms, Yakubu was “eligible to serve a second term.”
But the President of the Arewa Youth Consultative Movement, Mallam Kabiru Yusuf, had commended Buhari for the reappointing of Yakubu, describing it as an opportunity for him to prepare adequately in order to deliver credible general elections in 2023.