₦airaland Forum

The Acting National Chairman of the Independent
National Electoral Commission, Mrs. Amina Zakari, has
said she accepted her appointment with humility.

She told journalists in Abuja on Thursday that she
would do her job diligently and that the commission
would continue to work hard with the aim of delivering
on its assignments.

Zakari said that her tenure should be seen as the
continuation of that of the former Chairman of INEC,
Prof. Attahiru Jega.

Jega left the commission on Tuesday after the
expiration of his five-year tenure.

The new acting chairman of the commission said, “I
accept my appointment with humility and with
dedication to serve. I believe it is just a continuation of
what the former Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, has
started which has been at a high level and there
shouldn’t be any problem.

“I have been part of the process. I have known the
problems, challenges and I have seen the successes.
What is remaining is for us to build on the successes
and try to tackle the outstanding challenges.

“I must say a lot has been done to improve the
electoral processes in Nigeria through the past
Chairman, Prof. Jega, and a lot more needs to be
done.”

Zakari was full of praises for Jega, saying that the
former university don had done the bulk of the job
needed to be done in the commission.

She said, “I must say it is like trying to reach an
equilibrium because the bulk of the work has been
done by the former Chairman, Prof. Jega, to bring the
quality of changes to election management to a higher
level.

“So, all we need to do is to put all hands on deck to
improve further on what he has done and improve on
the good practices he has left behind.

“Basically, with the cooperation of all, and the support
of members of staff and the people of Nigeria, we
should be able to do it pending when a new
commission is put in place.”

On the challenges ahead of her, she said challenges
could not be envisaged “because they come as the
need arises,” but added that they would be tackled as
they come.

She said that the commission needed to improve
where it seemed to have failed or erred during the last
elections.

Meanwhile, the Coalition of Progressive Political
Parties, the umbrella organisation for 13 registered
political parties in Nigeria, has condemned what it calls
“the dangerous, irresponsible and inciting statement
issued by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party on
the appointment of Zakari.”

Her appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari had
drawn opprobrium from Chief Olisa Metuh, the
National Publicity Secretary of the PDP.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday and signed
by the Chairman of the Coalition and National
Chairman of Peoples Democratic Movement, Mallam
Bashir Ibrahim, the COP3 decried what it described as
“the dangerous precedent, whereby a political party is
trying to decide for the country who becomes the
INEC chairman.”

The function which, it said, is constitutionally reserved
for the President and Commander-in-Chief of the
Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and
the National Assembly.

In reference to the statement made in Abuja on
Wednesday by Metuh, rejecting the appointment of
Zakari, the coalition warned that “any interference by
political parties in the appointment of INEC officials is
tantamount to politicising the process and the
commission itself, which is capable of creating
dangerous schism in the commission and generating
unnecessary tension in the country.”

The statement added, “INEC is an independent election
management body which must be insulated from
politics and irresponsible politicking.

“The power of and procedure for the appointment of
the chairman of INEC is a constitutional matter and
not subject of bargaining by political parties, especially
those who are yet to come to terms with the fact that
Nigeria is on a very strong change trajectory. INEC is
also a regulator of political parties.

“It is an anomaly for the parties which the commission
is supposed to regulate to dictate who becomes the
commission’s chairman. Obviously, for some parties, it
is still midnight.”

Ibrahim recalled that Zakari was not appointed to the
commission by Buhari in 2015, but that she was
appointed as INEC National Commissioner by former
President Goodluck Jonathan in 2010 and by the time
she was appointed acting INEC Chairman, she had the
distinction of being the most senior INEC National
Commissioner in terms of the time she had served.

tyson99:
I hate PDP with passion they are always backward

markidoo:
Will dz woman withstand the pressure 4rm d numerous Orubebe's that wil rise in 2019?