Former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has voiced strong concerns about the leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) under Professor Mahmood Yakubu, suggesting that the All Progressives Congress (APC) would not have achieved its victory in the 2015 general elections if Yakubu had been in charge at that time.
In an interview on Arise TV aired Tuesday night, Amaechi looked back on the role of the electoral body during the pivotal 2015 elections, drawing comparisons between the former and current INEC chairmen. He praised former INEC boss, Professor Attahiru Jega, for what he described as a fair and open process that made it possible for APC to be registered and later win the election.
He said, “The current chairman of INEC, if he was the chairman of INEC in 2015, we would not have won. That’s an important point. May God bless (Attahiru) Jega. Because the ground rules were clear. The current chairman of INEC can only be compared to Iwu.”
Amaechi recalled how, under Jega’s watch, the process of registering APC was transparent and rule-based. According to him, the current INEC leadership would not have allowed the party to even get through registration, no matter how compliant it was with the requirements.
He said, “When we were to register APC, Jega opened the door and we complied with the registration requirements. He got APC registered. The current man, if you comply with all these, he would not register you.”
The former minister also raised alarm over what he views as a trend of partisanship under Yakubu’s INEC. He noted that recent elections have not shown signs of progress, saying that transparency has declined since the days of Option A4 — a past voting method known for its openness.
“Already, INEC is biased. So, the only thing I can tell you now is that, looking at the way Nigeria has run the election, even the Option A4 led us forward. At least a lot of transparency. You were sure of what was going on. Then we came back to meet people like Iwu and others and the current one and things got worse.”
He also shared his concern that electoral institutions might be used as tools for political control.
“So, you don’t know whether to say we are progressing or we are regressing. There’s a state capture using the electoral institution as a machine.”
