On Monday, media reports emerged about the alleged removal of Prof. Mahmud Yakubu, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as Nigeria prepares for another election year in 2027.
ENigeria News had earlier published a report quoting Vanguard News that there is a grand plot to remove the controversial INEC Chairman.
Even though the presidency had since remained silent over the media report that went viral days back, some inside sources insisted that the news is indeed credible.
Part of the report revealed an alleged grand plan to undermine the 2027 election, even as President Tinubu reportedly shopped for Yakubu’s replacement.
According to Vanguard, “forces pulling the strings from outside Aso Rock Presidential Villa are known friends of the President.”
“Vanguard investigations revealed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is yet to be fully boarded on the plot’s platform,” however, “They are also working with powerful Aso Rock insiders. The arrowhead of this move is a former South-South governor and a member of the class of 1999.”
In a recent development moments ago, a section of the media was awash with news of the removal of the embattled INEC chairman. According to the report, there is an alleged “high-level negotiation going on to replace Yakubu with Prof. Bashiru Olamilekan.”
However, in a statement released moments ago by the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Mr. Rotimi Oyekanmi, simply said, “Please, disregard. It is not true.”
According to the chief press secretary, Yakubu, who is rounding off his second tenure in office, is expected to exit the system towards the end of the year.
Meanwhile moments ago, the presidency also released a statement describing the viral news about the INEC Chairman’s removal as, fake news.
The process of appointing an INEC chairman is the president nominating a candidate and forwarding his particulars to the Department of State Services, DSS, for profiling.
After such screening, the President thereafter takes the name to the National Council of State for its advisory review. Based on the outcome, the President sends the name to the Senate for screening and confirmation.
