Agbakoba to Tinubu: INEC chairman must resign or be removed from office

Olisa Agbakoba, a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), says Mahmood Yakubu, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), must leave office.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Agbakoba hailed President Bola Tinubu for suspending Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Abdulrasheed Bawa, chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

On June 9, Tinubu suspended Emefiele as CBN governor and directed him to transfer his responsibilities to the deputy governor, operations directorate.

In a similar move, the president on Wednesday suspended Bawa following “weighty allegations of abuse of office against him”.

The former NBA president said with Tinubu’s actions, endemic corruption has suffered a massive blow.

He added that the next move the president should make is dismantle INEC, with the commission’s chairman forcefully removed or asked to tender his resignation.

“Everyone will agree that logistically, the 2023 elections are the worst in our history. I do not refer to the merits of the results of the elections,” the statement reads.

“Many results are disputed and are in tribunals. Both petitioners and respondents suffered at the hands of an incompetent INEC.

“As we await rulings from the courts, massive reforms of the electoral framework ought to begin. But this means that the INEC chairman will have to leave office by resignation or removal, otherwise the reform task will be impeded.

“I add very quickly that the suggested reforms have nothing to do with the merits of election results at all. Both winners and losers of the elections were victims of the failure of INEC. Confidence in Nigeria’s democracy will be enhanced by a deep cleansing of INEC.”