Remove New INEC Boss Now – Fayose To Buhari

Ahead of the forthcoming
governorship polls in Kogi and
Bayelsa States, the Ekiti State
Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose, on
Sunday, called on President
Muhammadu Buhari to revoke the
appointment of Mrs Amina Zakari as
Acting Chairperson of the
Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC), noting that since
her tenure as National Electoral
Commissioner had expired on July 21,
2015, she cannot continue to preside
legally on INEC affairs.
In a statement by his Special Assistant
on Public Communications and New
Media, Lere Olayinka, Fayose said
since INEC still has four National
Electoral Commissioners, Abdukadir
Oniyangi, Mohammad Wali, Chris
Iyimoga and Lawrence Nwuruku,
whose tenure are yet to expire, any of
them should act as INEC chairman.
According to Fayose, apart from the
danger that President Muhammadu
Buhari’s appointment of his in-law,
Mrs Amina Zakari as Acting
Chairperson of the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC)
pose to democracy in the country, the
position is unknown to the 1999
Constitution of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria (as amended).
The governor, who called on all lovers
of democracy in the country to rise in
defence of the impartiality of INEC,
which he described as the only factor
that can sustain democracy, added
that “the most honourable thing for
President Buhari to do is to rescind
the unlawful appointment of Mrs
Zakari as INEC Acting Chairperson.”
Fayose said: “Since Mrs Zakari’s
tenure as INEC National Electoral
Commissioner has expired, she cannot
continue to preside legally on INEC
affairs, except if duly appointed as
substantive Chairman of the
commission as provided in Section
154 (1) and (3) of the 1999
Constitution (as amended).
“One of the major legacies
bequeathed to Nigeria by the
immediate past Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) government was free, fair
and credible electoral process and
President Buhari, who is a beneficiary
of this legacy must sustain this legacy
by ensuring that the impartiality of
the electoral umpire is unblemished
by suspicions of partisanship and
illegal appointments.
“Two weeks ago, respected former
lawmaker and former top civil
servant, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai,
revealed that he knew Mrs. Zakari
since childhood, and that her late
father, the former Emir of Kazaure,
was married to President Buhari’s
elder sister.
“Alhaji Yakassai, went on to reveal
that President Buhari lived with and
spent a significant part of his early
years in the home of Amina Zakari’s
father.
“This is enough establishment of
conviviality between Mrs Zakari and
President Buhari, whose party, the All
Progressives Congress (APC) will be
standing elections with other political
parties this year and this will no
doubt cast credibility aspersion on
any election conducted by INEC
headed by Mrs Zakari.”
He said Section 153 of the 1999
Constitution (as amended), which
established INEC and other Federal
Executive Bodies did not make any
provision for the appointment of
Acting Chairman.
Declaring the appointment as illegal,
Governor Fayose said, “Section 154 (3)
provided that the president shall
consult the Council of State in
exercising his powers to appoint a
person as the chairman of INEC and
there is no record of such consultation
before the appointment of Mrs Zakari
as INEC ‘Acting Chairperson.’
“The only requisite condition for Mrs
Zakari to be acting as the chairman of
INEC is that she must be a National
Electoral Commissioner
and her tenure as National Electoral
Commissioner ended on July 21, 2015.
“As at today, there are four National
Electoral Commissioners in INEC
instead of 12. They are Abdukadir
Sulaimanu Oniyangi, Mohammad
Ahmad Wali, Chris Iyimoga and
Lawrence Nwuruku.
If anyone should act as INEC
chairman, it should be any of the
remaining four National Electoral
Commissioner, not someone whose
tenure has expired.
“The danger in this is also that any
action taken by INEC with Mrs Zakari
as its head will amount to illegality
and it is hoped that President Buhari
will avoid plunging Nigeria into an
avoidable legal quagmire by
rescinding immediately, the illegal
appointment of Mrs Zakari as INEC
Acting Chairperson, a position that is
not known to the Constitution of
Nigeria.
“Therefore, ignoring facts suggesting
that the INEC Acting Chairperson and
President Buhari are in-laws is
dangerous to democracy in the
country, and lovers of democracy in
the country must rise in defence of
the impartiality of INEC now.”

Source: Vanguard