The African Democratic Congress (ADC) said the nomination of the immediate former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu by President Bola Tinubu as ambassador designate, has confirmed that he was not neutral in the 2023 presidential election that brought Tinubu to office.
ADC in a statement on Sunday by the National Publicity Secretary Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, described the ambassadorial list as “outrageously underwhelming,” designed to settle the president’s political “IOUs rather than fix Nigeria’s urgent international relations crises.”
The party stated what President Tinubu presented to Nigerians as ambassadorial nominees are “political jobbers, corruption suspects, and patronage of wives, children, and relatives of political associates,” at a time that the country needs a disciplined and credible diplomatic corps, capable of rebuilding the nation’s collapsing credibility on the continent and the rest of the world after two years of absence.
ADC stated that the nomination of Prof. Yakubu was “embarrassingly insensitive,” noting that his nomination came barely two years after he supervised a highly controversial election that brought Tinubu to office, and only a few weeks after he left office as INEC Chairman.
“This particular appointment of Prof. Yakubu blurs what should be a distinct line between players and umpires.
“If allowed to stand, it would set a dangerous precedent where future INEC chairmen and commissioners may begin to see their positions as stepping stones to future political rewards.
“Once that mindset enters the bloodstream of our electoral system, neutrality becomes impossible, partisanship becomes inevitable, and elections become transactional,” the party warned.
ADC classified the list into three categories: former career diplomats or ambassadors, political supporters or their relatives, and members of the president’s political party, and wondered which of these three categories Prof. Yakubu belongs to.
“The implication of this is deeply unsettling indeed,” it added.
The party therefore called on Prof. Yakubu to reject the nomination for the sake of INEC’s institutional credibility, the integrity of future elections, and the preservation of his own legacy.
It also urged the Senate to reject the nomination in the interest of the nation’s democracy, of he fails to reject his nomination.
