Amid growing calls for the removal of Prof. Mahmood Yakubu as Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), former Abia State governor Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu has clarified that only President Bola Tinubu and the National Council of States (NCS) hold the authority to sack the electoral boss.
The calls for Yakubu’s removal, spearheaded by former President Olusegun Obasanjo and other aggrieved Nigerians, stem from dissatisfaction over the recent election outcomes in Edo and Ondo States.
Speaking at the Chinua Achebe Leadership Forum at Yale University in the United States, Obasanjo had titled his address “Leadership Failure and State Capture in Nigeria,” during which he called for the sack of INEC officials at all levels.
Reacting to these demands, Ikpeazu emphasized the legal framework surrounding the INEC Chairman’s tenure.
“The removal of the INEC Chairman is solely within the powers of President Tinubu and the National Council of States. It is not a decision that can be made arbitrarily,” Ikpeazu stated during the public presentation of a book in Abuja.
The book, titled Contemporary Legal Cooperation: China and Africa – A Comparative Survey of Legal Systems, was authored by Nigerian journalist John Chucks Azu.
The event also included a dialogue on the theme, “New Horizons in Rule of Law, Judicial Efficiency and Dispute Resolution: Any Lessons of China and Nigeria?”
Ikpeazu, who recently lost his bid for a senatorial seat to Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), has previously criticized INEC for declaring Abaribe the winner.
Speaking on the sidelines of the event, Ikpeazu called on INEC to be more transparent and impartial in the conduct of elections. Referring to the Ondo election, he said, “Unfortunately, my party lost, but that election has come and gone. I will advise INEC to be more transparent and impartial in the conduct of elections. When people are not happy with your process, you don’t talk about it but open up the space to let people come and see what you are doing. Sometimes, you meet them upfront.”
On the call for the sack of the INEC Chairman, Ikpeazu stated, “It is not my call to make about a new leadership of INEC. That is the call of Mr President and the Council of State, and I think they will take that decision when the time comes.”
