On Tuesday, Mahmood Yakubu, who headed Nigeria’s electoral commission, INEC, for a decade, bowed out and handed over to May Agbamuche-Mbu as acting chairperson.
Mr Yakubu left the commission before the expiration of his tenure.
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Resignation
PREMIUM TIMES can now report that Mr Yakubu formally resigned his appointment on 3 October, about a month ahead of the end of his tenure.
In his resignation letter addressed to President Bola Tinubu and sighted by PREMIUM TIMES, Mr Yakubu expressed his wish for the resignation to take effect on Tuesday, 7 October.
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“Please accept, your excellency, my appreciation for the opportunity to serve the nation as chairman of the electoral commission,” he said.
Mr Yakubu had tried to leave office months earlier, as his actual tenure completion date would be in the middle of the Anambra State governorship election. While the election has been scheduled for 8 November, Mr Yakubu’s tenure expires 24 hours later on 9 November.
He first assumed the office 10 years ago in 2015 after his appointment by the late former President Muhammadu Buhari. Mr Buhari also reappointed him for another five-year tenure in 2020.
Sources told TheCable that the INEC Chairperson had planned to leave months ago, but Mr Tinubu asked him to wait while he headhunted for a suitable replacement.
Handover
During a meeting at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday, Mr Yakubu handed over to Mrs Agbamuche-Mbu to serve in an acting capacity pending the appointment of a substantive chairperson of the commission.
READ ALSO: Tinubu confers national honour on Yakubu, accepts his exit as INEC chair
At the meeting attended by other National Commissioners and Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs), Mr Yakubu appreciated all staff and asked them to extend the same support to Mrs Agbamuche-Mbu.
“I will forever cherish the support of successive Secretaries and staff of the Commission nationwide,” he said.
“Together, we innovated and managed the commission’s enormous responsibilities, sometimes on the verge of breaking down.”
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