Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the longest serving chairman of the electoral body, bowed out this week as chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
He was first appointed on November 9, 2015 for a five-year term of office and was reappointed on November 9, 2020 by the then President Muhammadu Buhari, becoming the first chairman of the National Election Management Body in Nigeria to serve for two consecutive terms.
Yakubu, whose second tenure would have elapsed on December 9, 2025, announced his departure during a meeting of INEC with states Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday.
Without doubt his 10-year tenure was as eventful as they were tumultuous, packing a heavy dose of praise, criticism and reflection.
Handing over the mantle of INEC leadership on Tuesday to a National Commissioner, Ms May Agbamuche-Mbu, who took over as acting chairman, said his exit would also enable the person taking over to quickly settle down to the task of conducting elections and electoral activities.
Yakubu expressed appreciation to members of the commission and RECs for the excellent working relationship they shared.
Recalling that he worked with 24 national commissioners and 67 RECs since he took over in 2015, he said he would forever cherish the support of successive secretaries and staff of INEC nationwide.
His Stewardship
For almost 10 years, Professor Yakubu stood at the helm of INEC, guiding it through one of the most transformative decades in its history.
Under his watch, the dates for general elections and FCT Area Council elections were regularised.
Thus, the general election now holds on the third Saturday in February of the election year for the Presidential and National Assembly elections, and two weeks later for the Governorship and State
Assembly elections. This has made it possible for all stakeholders to plan well ahead of time and ensure better coordination and readiness by the commission.
The Yakubu-led commission built a more efficient, comprehensive and predictive EMSC dashboard that reports over 1,000 election monitoring indicators and integrates all the Commission’s
election monitoring tools comprising the Election Management System (EMS), the Election Operation Support Centre (EOSC), the Electoral Risk Management Tool (ERM) and the INEC Security Alert and Notification System.
After many years of challenges of office accommodation, the Commission headquarters will soon have a new 7-storey building opposite the present location on Zambezi Crescent, Maitama, Abuja. This is in addition to the building of State Collation Centres.
Technological Advancements
The Yakubu Commission introduced several technological tools that transformed election administration in Nigeria. Among them are a new generation INEC Voter Enrollment Device (IVED), a new Biometric Voter Accreditation Device (BVAS), online
portals for managing candidate nomination, as well as for accreditation of party agents, election observers and the media and the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
Also, INEC in the period under review with support from the European Union Support for Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGN) Project, managed by Development Alternatives Inc. (DAI) developed eight technology-based tools to improve electoral administration. Similarly For the first time in Africa, INEC took the lead in adopting AI in Election Management by creating a Division on AI and Election in the ICT Department.
Post Election Reviews Meetings
Professor Yakubu continued and expanded the practice of conducting a comprehensive review after each General Election to learn lessons for future improvements of the electoral process
Voters Registration And Online Pre-Registration Portal
The Yakubu Commission inaugurated and institutionalised the Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) at LGA and other designated centres in April 2017, resulting in the registration of 14,283,734 and 9,518,188 new voters for the 2019 and 2023 General Elections, respectively.
The Yakubu-led commission introduced vastly improved Direct Data Capture Machines (DDCMs) with more efficient data capturing capabilities, especially for fingerprint capture, which was a major challenge to the previous DDCM.
Later, the bulky DDCM was replaced by a more portable and efficient INEC Voter Enrollment Device (IVED), which improved voter verification through fingerprint and facial recognition.
For the first time in the CVR Exercise, an Online Portal, was introduced under his tenure, which allows for pre-registration, transfer, updates on details, and requests for replacement of a damaged, defaced or faded PVC by citizens.
There was also the deployment of the two-way Advanced Biometric Identification System (ABIS), resulting in the confirmation of a total of 2,780,756 (22.6%) voters as double or multiple registrants and were invalidated, reducing the number of registered voters to 9,518,188 from the 12,298,944 completed registration at the end of the CVR exercise on July 31, 2022.
There was more. The commission under Yakubu’s leadership published the number of Registered Voters by Occupation, Gender, Age and Disability for the 2019 and 2023 General Elections. It improved efforts to increase PVC collection and published the data of Registered Voters and PVC Collection for all elections at the State, Local Government, Registration Area and Polling Unit level.
Number Of Elections Conducted
Naturally, Yakubu as chairman, INEC conducted the highest number of elections in the history of Election Management Bodies in Nigeria. He conducted both the 2019 and 2023 General Elections; 19 Off-Cycle Governorship Elections, over 300 supplementary and bye-elections. The former INEC boss conducted three FCT Area Council Elections in April 2016, February 2019, and February 2022.
He Inaugurated A Code Of Conduct
and Rules of Engagement for Security Personnel on Electoral Duty to deepen the professionalism of security personnel on election duty.
Tracking and Monitoring Tools for Political Parties
His INEC updated the Regulations and Guidelines for political parties and developed enhanced tools for tracking and monitoring them. INEC provided training and capacity building to political party officials including developing their capacity to use the on-line portals to submit the names of candidates and party agents.
In a bid for transparency, accountability in the party system, the Yakubu-led Commission enforced the Constitutional
requirements for registration and de-registration of political parties based on their compliance with Extant Rules and Regulations.
Thus, 74 underperforming political parties were re-registered, streamlining Nigeria’s political space from 92 to 19 active platforms.
Strengthening The Electoral Legal Framework And Inclusivity
The Yakubu Commission engaged and collaborated with the National
Assembly and other stakeholders to improve the Electoral Legal Framework which culminated into the Electoral Act, 2022 which helped in deepening democracy.
Also, during his tenure, the Commission made conscious efforts to provide opportunities for women to attain leadership positions in INEC and offered employment to a visually
challenged ex-NYSC member. Furthermore, the Gender
and Inclusivity Department was established in 2021 to ensure that inclusion issues are addressed effectively.
He collaborated with CSOs to improve access and participation
of PwDs in the electoral process through the deployment of Assistive Voter Devices and ensured the full participation of vulnerable citizens in the
electoral process through priority voting.
The commission under his watch reviewed the Framework and Regulation for voting by Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), which
strengthened the legal provision that enabled them to register and vote in the 2019 and 2023 general elections as well as off-cycle governorship elections.
Yakubu’s INEC continued the culture of regular
quarterly consultative meetings with stakeholders, including Political Parties, CSOs, Media and Security Agencies.
Electoral Diplomacy
Yakubu played a major role in the revival of ECONEC. In March 2017, he was elected the President of ECONEC and established the first ECONEC
Secretariat in Abuja on July 6, 2017. He also facilitated
Nigeria’s technical and material support to other National Election Management Bodies in the ECOWAS Region (Benin, Sierra
Leone, Liberia, and Guinea-Bissau).
The Yakubu Commission provided Training, Capacity Building, and Peer Learning support to Chairmen, Officials and Staff of other Election Management Bodies in Africa. Yakubu was honoured by the National Elections Commission of Liberia for his contribution and collaboration in improving Election Management in the Republic of
Liberia. He also hosted two International Conferences on, Opportunities and Challenges in the use of Technologies in elections and on, promoting inclusivity in the electoral process.
Not All Rosy ….
However, Yakubu stewardship as INEC chairman which would have been 10 years on December 9, 2025 was never completely a bed of roses but a mixture of “the good, the bad and the ugly”.
Yakubu was first in the eyes of the storm shortly after his appointment, following the declaration of the November 2015 Kogi State Governorship election inconclusive, after the Commission had earlier announced the results of the election from all the 21 local government areas in the State.
Also, the events that characterised the adjudged flawed governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states and the last-minute postponement of last 2019 Presidential and National Assembly elections in 2019 brought him to public opprobrium.
The former Director General of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) was equally in the middle of the storm after the heavily criticised 2019 general elections as well as the Bayelsa and Kogi off season governorship polls which were viewed as sham.
However, Yakubu came under reprieve and public applause, following the outcome of the September 19 Edo and October 10 Ondo Governorship elections with the introduction of
INEC RESULT VIEWING (IReV) that enabled Nigerians to view Polling Unit results real time as the voting ended, reducing the incidences of results manipulations.
IReV which was first experimented in the August 8, 2020 Nasarawa Central State Constituency bye-election and subsequently the Edo and Ondo polls, according to INEC was to further strengthen the transparency in the election result management system which has remained a major source of mistrust in Nigeria’s electoral process.
The innovation restored some level of confidence in INEC as at the end of the Edo Governorship election even the worst critics of the commission and the electoral process, such as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) applauded the use of the virtual portal by INEC to upload results directly from the polling unit as it said the application made it impossible for electoral violators to hijack the electoral process
However, despite the significant technological deployment such as the BVAS and the IReV portal, the controversies surrounding the 2023 elections; technical glitches, delayed uploads and other issues with the off-cycle and by-elections count against INEC under the former don.
For this, he faced the highest criticism of his career. For his critics, he promised so much and failed to deliver just when it mattered.
Upon reflection while handing over last Tuesday, Yakubu gave a hint of how daunting the task of managing elections in Nigeria was.
While noting that he stepped aside early to enable the new chairman to quickly settle down to the “task of conducting elections and electoral activities in Africa’s most demographically and logistically complex environment.”
While he acknowledged the accomplishments under his watch, the outgone chairman said, “Above all, I thank Nigerians for their comments as well as criticisms which encouraged rather than discouraged us to persevere.’’
In her brief response, the acting INEC chairman, Agbamuche-Mbu, commended Yakubu for setting high records during his tenure as the commission’s chairman.
“We acknowledge the significant contributions and achievements made by Yakubu during his tenure, in particular his hard work and dedication in serving our country meritoriously.
“We wish you God’s guidance in your future endeavours. As you step down, we pray for greater success in whatever you set out to do.
“We are confident that history will judge you very well,’’ she said.
President Tinubu had earlier, thanked Yakubu for his services to the nation and his efforts to sustain Nigeria’s democracy, particularly through the organisation of free and fair elections throughout his two-term tenure.
In recognition of his service, the President conferred on Yakubu the national honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON).
But for Yakubu’s critics, he didn’t pass the test of managing a free and fair election in Nigeria.
Businessman and former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential aspirant, Sam Ohuabunwa, who mockingly hailed Yakubu’s stepping down saying it is a “cheering news”.
In an Arise Television programme, ‘Prime Time’, he said the former INEC chairman disappointed many politicians and Nigerians.
Similarly, lawyer and activist, Frank Tietie, claimed that Yakubu committed an unforgivable sin against Nigeria.
Tietie, who spoke on Arise News’ The Morning Show, said he was disappointed that Yakubu could not move for the punishment of those who perpetrated electoral violence and malpractices. He said even in the twilight in office, he couldn’t address the blatant violation of campaign regulations.
“He just didn’t say anything and didn’t do anything,” he said.
He also knocked Yakubu for failure of electronic transmission of results in the 2023 election, describing it as “more or less an unforgivable offense to Nigerians.”
On his part, lawyer and political analyst, Mike Obiekwe, said Yakubu’s fate was a reflection of our political system and culture.
While he admitted that Yakubu could have done better especially against the backdrop the IREV 2023 scenario, Obiekwe said as long as the system remains the way it is, the INEC chairman, much like other appointees of government, would tend to dance to the tune of those who appoint them.
He also noted that the political class is also complicit in the mess, adding that it has become convenient for them to make election body heads the fall guy in most cases.
“We have seen this play out with virtually all INEC chairmen over time. So while we can easily crucify the outgone INEC chairman, we should also remember that the system produced him. That said, he has made a lot of contributions to election management and administration that can’t be ignored and he deserves his commendation for that. But until we get the system right, through deliberate constitutional electoral reforms, the next chairman might be not so different, even though we would expect appointees to be stand their ground when put in a position that seeks to compromise them and make them the fall guys,” he said.
