Sack INEC Boss Now - Fayose To Buhari

Controversial Ekiti state governor, Ayo
Fayose, has called on President Muhammadu
Buhari to immediately sack the acting
chairperson of the Independent National
Electoral Commission, Mrs. Amina Zakari.
Fayose made the call today in view of the
forthcoming governorship elections in Kogi
and Bayelsa states. He noted that the
tenure of the INEC boss has since come to
an end on July 21, 2015, saying it is illegal
for her to continue to remain in office.
Fayose’s view was contained in a statement
by his special assistant on public
communications and new media, Lere
Olayinka, where he also opined that one of
four INEC national commissioners, namely;
Abdukadir Oniyangi, Mohammad Wali, Chris
Iyimoga and Lawrence Nwuruku, whose
tenure are yet to expire,should act as
INEC chairman, pending the appointment of
a new head for the electoral body.
Fayose re-echoed the Peoples Democratic
Party’s claim that Zakari is the president’s
daughter-in-law, stating that her further
stay in office is a threat to Nigeria’s
democracy.
Fayose said, “Since Mrs Zakari’s tenure as
INEC National Electoral Commissioner
has expired, she cannot continue to preside
legally on INEC affairs, except if duly
appointed as substantive Chairman of the
commission as provided in Section 154 (1)
and (3) of the 1999 Constitution
(as amended).
“One of the major legacies bequeathed to
Nigeria by the immediate past Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) government was
free, fair and credible electoral process and
President Buhari, who is a beneficiary of this
legacy must sustain this legacy by ensuring
that the impartiality of the electoral umpire
is unblemished by suspicions of
partisanship and illegal appointments.
“Two weeks ago, respected former lawmaker
and former top civil servant, Alhaji Tanko
Yakassai, revealed that he knew Mrs. Zakari
since childhood, and that her late father, the
former Emir of Kazaure, was married to
President Buhari’s elder sister.
“Alhaji Yakassai, went on to reveal that
President Buhari lived with and spent a
significant part of his early years in the
home of Amina
Zakari’s father.
“This is enough establishment of conviviality
between Mrs Zakari and President Buhari,
whose party, the All Progressives Congress
(APC) will be standing elections with other
political parties this year and this will no
doubt cast credibility aspersion on any
election conducted by INEC headed by Mrs
Zakari.”
Fayose also said Section 153 of the 1999
Constitution (as amended), did not make
any provision for the appointment of Acting
Chairman, Vanguard reports.
He said, “Section 154 (3) provided that the
President shall consult the Council of
State in exercising his powers to appoint a
person as the chairman of INEC and there is
no record of such consultation before the
appointment of Mrs Zakari as INEC ‘Acting
Chairperson.’
“The only requisite condition for Mrs Zakari
to be acting as the chairman of INEC is that
she must be a National Electoral
Commissioner
and her tenure as National Electoral
Commissioner ended on July 21, 2015.
“As at today, there are four National
Electoral Commissioners in INEC instead of
12. They are Abdukadir Sulaimanu Oniyangi,
Mohammad Ahmad Wali, Chris Iyimoga and
Lawrence Nwuruku. If anyone should act as
INEC chairman, it should be any of the
remaining four National
Electoral Commissioner, not someone whose
tenure has expired.
“The danger in this is also that any action
taken by INEC with Mrs Zakari as its head
will amount to illegality and it is hoped
that President Buhari will avoid plunging
Nigeria into an avoidable legal quagmire by
rescinding immediately, the illegal
appointment of Mrs Zakari as INEC Acting
Chairperson, a position that is not known to
the Constitution of Nigeria.
“Therefore, ignoring facts suggesting that
the INEC Acting Chairperson and President
Buhari are in-laws is dangerous to
democracy in the country, and lovers of
democracy in the country must rise in
defence of the impartiality of INEC now.”
Fayose who has been one of the most vocal
critics of Buhari’s government, recently
defined the president’s anti-corruption
war as simple noise-making, witch-hunt and
an attempt to hoodwink the public into
dominating the seeming failure of the
administration to deliver on its electoral
promises.