Beyond The Vacancy at INEC
BY MARYAM UWAIS

One of the decisions made by President Muhammadu Buhari in his first 100 days in office was the appointment of Mrs Amina Bala Zakari as the Acting Chairperson of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). But given the way things are in Nigeria, and despite the fact that she was first and foremost an appointee of former President Goodluck Jonathan, there have been all manner of insinuations against a woman who is most fitting for the job.


First, full disclosure: I first met Amina Bala Zakari when we both gained admission into Queens College, Yaba, Lagos, on Kano State scholarship, in January 1972. Within a short period, we became friends and commenced studies in earnest. In our five years of secondary school, Amina came across as quiet, focused, diligent but self-effacing. Never aggressive or disagreeable, Amina remained somewhat reserved, friendly but meticulous in her studies. Having been an 'A' student even from her primary school days in Kano, Amina won many prizes before bagging a Division 1, with distinction, in the1976 WAEC exam.


Thereafter, both of us obtained admission into the School of Basic Studies, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria. Amina, in typical fashion, painstakingly embraced her studies, excelling in her chosen subjects of Physics with Mathematics, Chemistry and Biology, and immediately secured admission into the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences. At the conclusion of her BSc degree in Pharmacy, Amina won the Global and the Glaxo prizes for the best overall student in the Faculty, for the year 1980.

From then, Amina began to grow surely but steadily in the service of our country. As a young pharmacist, she was responsible for establishing the first clinic in Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi State. She also worked with the Afri-Projects Consortium, then Management Consultants to the Petroleum Trust Fund. In that capacity, she served as a member of the team that managed the PTF-funded health projects. With a sound background in computer programming (from Mount Vernon High School, Virginia USA, in 1993), the development of comprehensive systems and processes, as well as in establishing effective monitoring and evaluation frameworks in the implementation of all the projects, Amina ensured the sustained access of drugs to government hospitals around the country.

At the Federal Capital Territory as Secretary of Health and Human Services, Amina's appreciation of her task and determination was evident in the manner in which she immediately set about overhauling the Satellite Town Hospitals of Kuje, Bwari, Abaji, Kwali, Karshi and Kubwa. She also successfully supervised the concessionary of the public private partnership with Garki Hospital, a facility that continues to provide excellent service in the FCT, today. Her expertise in systems and procedures, as well as her monitoring and evaluation background ensured efficiency in the enforcement of ethical practices in the registration and inspection of FCT private hospitals.


At different times, Amina also served as Secretary of Social Development and in acting capacity, of the Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat of the FCDA. The outsourcing of hospital cleaning services and the monitoring and evaluation of health and social development-related services led to the decision to build two new orphanages and sports facilities, as well as strident efforts at implementing the provisions of the Child Rights Act.

Amina is a member of both the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria as well as the Nigerian Institute of Management. In between her stints in public service, she successfully operated a healthcare consulting outfit. She has also participated in several executive programs at the International Drug Agency in Netherlands, The Crown Agents in the UK as well as the Harvard Business School.

Tragically, Amina lost her very supportive husband in May 2000, after he slumped suddenly at work. He left her with five children, including a baby, to raise alone. As a single mother, Amina was determined that her children would be availed sound education without compromising on her values or the pedigree that comes with being the daughter of the late Emir of Kazaure, Alhaji Hussaini Adamu, himself a renowned advocate of girl-child education. To her credit, four of the children have since graduated with distinction in various fields of endeavour. She also has two adorable grandchildren.

After her service with the FCDA, Amina was appointed INEC Commissioner in July 2010, under the Chairmanship of Prof Attahiru Jega, by President Jonathan. She was an intrinsic member of the team that successfully delivered credible elections in Nigeria both in 2011 and 2015. Her initial mandate included supervising the Political Parties Monitoring Committee, which efforts led to the revitalization of the Inter-Party Advisory Council. Her efforts at strengthening alliances between political parties, while aligning discrepancies in the system, culminated in a significant reduction of the number of registered parties. In her usual effective, efficient but very discreet manner, Amina set about improving partnerships between political parties and with INEC, in the run up to the 2015 elections.

Amina was subsequently appointed Chair of the INEC Planning, Monitoring & Strategy Committee where she revived key compliance monitoring mechanisms through an internally driven process of election management system automation. This effort culminated in the attainment of over 80 percent voter material distribution in the 2015 elections. As part of her mandate, Amina also managed the INEC/NYSC Bilateral Committee, having oversight of the recruitment, welfare and the training of ad hoc staff, particularly youth corps members. She succeeded in establishing a transparent online recruitment platform, complimented by a seamless payment system, thereby curtailing the adverse influence of politicians at local level.

Astonishingly, despite this string of verifiable and notable accomplishments, Amina's appointment as Acting Chairperson of INEC in July 2015 has been vehemently opposed in certain quarters, premised on untrue and unfair allegations of close kinship with the APC leadership and/or also, with President Buhari. There has indeed been an orchestrated campaign against her possible confirmation as the first female Chairperson of INEC. Interestingly, nobody has impugned her integrity or questioned her competence for the job; what the public is treated to are false allegations. One example is the assertion that President Buhari lived with Amina's father, the Emir of Kazaure, in his palace. Fact is, Amina's father only became Emir in 1994, by which time President Buhari had already retired from the army. One wonders if a former Head of State would relocate to and reside in an Emir's palace, having nowhere else to go!

Mrs Bala Zakari is in contention for the position of substantive INEC Chair because of her reputation for hard work and her remarkable antecedents, even as INEC Commissioner, and has never been accused of being partisan in her service to this country. So while it is true that in the past, Amina worked with the Management Consultants to the then PTF (headed by President Buhari), and that she also worked with the FCDA when Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai was FCT Minister, these antecedents were well known to the then PDP administration and President Jonathan before appointing her as INEC Commissioner in 2010. The question then is: Why has her background suddenly been magnified to assume such threatening dimensions?

It is on record that as INEC Commissioner, and indeed everywhere else before then, Amina performed her duties with distinction. For many, an insider, with the requisite experience, expertise, knowledge, capacity and institutional memory should naturally succeed the erstwhile Chairman and his team, if only to sustain their laudable performance during the last electoral exercise. Ultimately, therefore, it is hoped that the criteria for the selection of the substantive INEC Chairperson would include performance-led indicators such as integrity and the requisite competencies to conduct credible, free and fair elections in our nation.

Whatever the President ultimately decides to do with INEC, nobody can question the integrity, transparency and competence of Amina Bala Zakari.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/the-first-100-days-of-buhari-by-thisday-editorial-board-members/219496/

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