The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, could be suspended or ousted as a result of machinations by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to get the National Assembly to approve a vote of no confidence.
Some lawmakers are uneasy about the INEC chairman’s insistence on using just technology to conduct the polls, according to Newsmen.
It was learned that Yakubu’s detractors are pressuring some senators to urge President Muhammadu Buhari to suspend or remove him.
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In the general elections of the following year, they urge the INEC chairman to abandon the usage of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Election Result Viewing Portal.
According to Anaedoonline.ng, the 1999 Constitution, as amended, mandates that the President can only dismiss the INEC Chairman on the basis of a Senate recommendation.
To punish the INEC chairman, the President will need the support of two-thirds of senators, who make up the nation’s highest legislative body.
Section 157 (1) of the Constitution states that “Subject to the provision of subsection (3) of this Removal Section, a person holding any of the offices to which this section applies may only be removed from that office by the president acting on an address supported by two-thirds majority of the Senate praying that he be so removed for inability to discharge the functions of the office (whether arising from infirmity of mind or body or any other cause) or for misconduct.”
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Subsection 2 states: “This section applies to the office of the chairman and member of the Code of Conduct Bureau, the Federal Civil Service Commission, the Independent National Electoral Commission, the National Judicial Council, the Federal Judicial Service Commission, the Federal Character Commission, the Nigeria Police Force, the National Population Commission, the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission and the Police Service Commission.”
According to a source who spoke to Newsmen, those who are against Yakubu using technology to handle the elections in 2019 want the Senate to launch an investigation into INEC’s election preparations with the goal of identifying flaws throughout the entire procedure.
It was discovered that such a finding would then encourage the proposal for a change in INEC’s leadership, which may scupper the strategy for using BVAS and other technology tools to prevent election rigging.
According to sources, the nomination and approval of suspected APC members as Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) was a part of a plan to infiltrate the electorate body and weaken Yakubu’s ability to impose specific demands.
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It was learned that the goal is to checkmate the INEC chairman ahead of the general elections next year by undermining him and imposing party members on the country’s electoral umpire.
It has already been reported that certain powerful senators who feel frightened by the power of their adversaries are being persuaded to support the action against Yakubu.
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