IS INEC AN APPENDAGE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT?

The whole of Nigerian political terrain is in cacophony. The rod of theatrical politics has struck the cymbals and its apparent dissonance spreads throughout the nation like a pandemic disease. Its a New year but the immediate past festivities had done little in dousing this cataclysmic tension.

The decision of INEC's chairman Mr mahmood Yakubu to appoint one Amina Zakari as the head of INEC's collation Center committee who is allegedly related to muhammadu buhari is an unintelligent move reasons being that it ought not to transpire at this precarious and sensitive time.How will the incumbent INEC boss now convince the contenders that the election will be free from any form of tinkering,tampering or tilting of the scale to his relative's favour? How will INEC convince the general public that its an Independent body devoid of any external interference? These are salient questions that begs for swift answers.

The presidency through Garba Shehu came out to quell any link of zakari being a niece to buhari but conceded that an intermarriage exists between their extended families. He also asserts that it was Jonathan who appointed her in the first place. Meanwhile zakiri later came out to say she is not related to buhari at all,and she sees buhari as her president..


THE VERDICT
The presidency's claim that buhari-zakiri bond is not based on consanguinity(bloodly related) and thus cannot be related is insufficient. Zakiri's father an Emir of kazuare Emirates married buhari's sister and thus justifies zakiri as being step niece to buhari..Buhari grew with zakari under the same roof,and she worked under buhari when he was heading petroleum trust fund project..Their bond is said to be very deep. It was even claimed as being published in premiumtimesng news paper that it was buhari who suggested the appointment of zakirias as National commissioner to Good luck Jonathan to represent North west geopolitical zone when he was still at CPC. When Attahiru Jega's tenure expired in 2015 as INEC's chairman he handed over to Ahmed Wali but buhari later removed him and handed over to his step niece zakiri as the acting chairman but later appointed mahmood yakubu as the substantive chairman after succumbing to pressure from opposition. Some aggrieved opposition alleges that under Zakiri's watch there has been a lot of controversies and irregularities in elections which has always ended in APC's favour especially the Osun re-run election.

Pundits are of the opinion that buhari should have appointed someone from another geopolitical zone as Jonathan did to oversee INEC instead of someone from his geopolitical zone in the spirit of fairness. Also the refusal of INEC to replace her with someone Else gives some credence to the fact that she might be used as a machinery to tinker the result in favour of his uncle,a move Obi Ezikweli the presidential candidate of C.U.P.P likened to match fixing. some even doubts her qualification for the job because she studied pharmacy asserting that this her current job is beyond her.

INEC should therefore stop acting as if its an appendage of the federal government and do the needful to replace Amina Zakari and possibly Yusuf mahmood by extension in a bid to provide a free and fair election

WRITTEN BY✍


QUINCY OSAMUDIAMWEN IKILO A.K.A DON EMERITUS(POLITICAL ANALYST)