Amina Zakari ‘will not be involved’ in collation of election results

January 3, 2019 8:24 pm

PIC. 6. FROM LEFT: NATIONAL COMMISSIONER OF INEC IN-CHARGE OF SOUTH-SOUTH,MR MUSTAFA LECKY; NATIONAL COMMISSIONER IN-CHARGE OF ELECTION OPERATIONS, HAJIYA AMINA ZAKARI; RESIDENT ELECTORAL COMMISSIONER FOR RIVERS, MR ANIEDI IKOIWAK; AND COMMISSIONER OF POLICE IN RIVERS, MR FRANCIS ODESANYA, AT THE INEC AND POLITICAL PARTIES STAKEHOLDERS FORUM ON FORTH-COMING RIVERS RE-RUN ELECTION IN PORT HARCOURT ON THURSDAY (18/8/16). 5796/18/8/2016/OCC/TA/BJO/NAN

Amina Zakari, a national commissioner at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), will not be involved in the collation of election results, a source at the INEC told TheCable on Thursday evening.

The source said this while reacting to the outrage that trailed the appointment of Zakari as head of a committee ahead of the elections.

Mahmood Yakubu, INEC chairman, had inaugurated the committees on collation center and electoral logistics on Thursday.

Zakari was named as head of the committee on collation center.

In its reaction, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had said by the appointment, INEC had given Zakari the opportunity to rig the election in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

At a press conference in Abuja, Kola Ologbondiyan, said Yakubu and the commission had set the tone for a huge crisis.

Ologbondiyan said his party was against the appointment of Zakari whom he described as a relative of President Muhammadu Buhari.

But a source at INEC said the PDP misconstrued what the appointment is about.

“She (Zakari) is only in charge of the collation centre, basically issues around the administration of the venue,” the source said.

“It is an in-house committee responsible for water, electricity, briefing rooms, toilets, refreshment etc. She chairs the committee in her new role as chairperson of health and welfare committee.

“There is the results collation committee/secretariat which is separate and under the exclusive control of the INEC chairman. The collation centre committee has no role in processing results collated from the states and presented to the chairman by vice-chancellors who serve as collation officers.”