INEC Chairman Professor Mahmood Yakubu has reaffirmed his position as Nigeria\u2019s Chief Electoral Officer, dismissing rumors of his removal, and assured that amendments to the Electoral Act will be finalized ahead of the 2027 general elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking to journalists at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Monday after the inauguration of two new National Commissioners, Yakubu emphasized his constitutional mandate, stating, \u201cI remain the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, and under the Constitution, the Chief Electoral Commissioner of the Federation, and under the Electoral Act, the returning officer for the presidential election.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The newly sworn-in commissioners from the Southeast and Northwest regions fill vacancies in the 12-member body, bringing INEC closer to its full legal complement. \u201cWe have almost the full complement of commissioners,\u201d Yakubu noted, acknowledging the recent passing of Major General Modibbo Alkali (retd), whose position remains unfilled. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On electoral reforms, the INEC chairman disclosed that a review of the 2023 general elections yielded 142 recommendations, with eight requiring constitutional or legislative amendments. Collaborating with the National Assembly, he confirmed progress toward revising the Electoral Act, citing a recent retreat with lawmakers in Lagos and plans for a public hearing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe National Assembly is going to organize a public hearing, and it\u2019s after this that a new bill will\u2026 be submitted to the President for assent,\u201d he explained, adding that the commission is committed to ensuring \u201cnecessary amendments [are] done ahead of the 2027 general elections.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yakubu dismissed speculation about his tenure as a distraction, urging focus on institutional reforms. \u201cWe don\u2019t need to waste time on unnecessary speculations,\u201d he asserted, reiterating INEC\u2019s dedication to strengthening electoral processes. \u201cWe\u2019re working with the National Assembly on electoral reform\u2026 so far, so good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The remarks underscore INEC\u2019s efforts to address post-2023 election challenges while preparing for future polls, with Yakubu\u2019s leadership remaining central to the commission\u2019s agenda.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
INEC Chairman Professor Mahmood Yakubu has reaffirmed his position as Nigeria\u2019s Chief Electoral Officer, dismissing rumors of his removal, and assured that amendments to the Electoral Act will be finalized ahead of the 2027 general elections. Speaking to journalists at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Monday after the inauguration of two new National Commissioners, Yakubu emphasized his constitutional mandate, stating, \u201cI remain the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, and under the Constitution, the Chief Electoral Commissioner of the Federation, and under the Electoral Act, the returning officer for the presidential election.\u201d The newly sworn-in commissioners from the Southeast and Northwest regions fill vacancies in the 12-member body, bringing INEC closer to its full legal complement. \u201cWe have almost the full complement of commissioners,\u201d Yakubu noted, acknowledging the recent passing of Major General Modibbo Alkali (retd), whose position remains unfilled. On electoral reforms, the INEC chairman disclosed that a review of the 2023 general elections yielded 142 recommendations, with eight requiring constitutional or legislative amendments. Collaborating with the National Assembly, he confirmed progress toward revising the Electoral Act, citing a recent retreat with lawmakers in Lagos and plans for a public hearing. \u201cThe National Assembly is going to organize a public hearing, and it\u2019s after this that a new bill will\u2026 be submitted to the President for assent,\u201d he explained, adding that the commission is committed to ensuring \u201cnecessary amendments [are] done ahead of the 2027 general elections.\u201d Yakubu dismissed speculation about his tenure as a distraction, urging focus on institutional reforms. \u201cWe don\u2019t need to waste time on unnecessary speculations,\u201d he asserted, reiterating INEC\u2019s dedication to strengthening electoral processes. \u201cWe\u2019re working with the National Assembly on electoral reform\u2026 so far, so good.\u201d The remarks underscore INEC\u2019s efforts to address post-2023 election challenges while preparing for future polls, with Yakubu\u2019s leadership remaining central to the commission\u2019s agenda.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24943,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25194"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25194\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25195,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25194\/revisions\/25195"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}