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My tenure secured by law – INEC boss *Speaks on new electoral reforms
Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Monday, once again spoke about his rumoured removal from office, saying his tenure is protected by law, assuring that he was not perturbed on the matter.
It was also on the day he gave details of the proposed amendment to the electoral laws, saying that necessary amendments on the Electoral Act would be ready before the 2027 elections.
Emerging from the State House where he witnessed the swearing in of two of the INEC National Commissioners by President Bola Tinubu at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja, he told State House Correspondents that INEC alongside relevant stakeholders had reviewed the 2023 general elections and came up with 142 recommendations, out of which eight required electoral amendment.
He said: “We are here today, basically for the swearing in of two national commissioners. As you are aware, the commission is made up of a chairman and 12 national commissioners drawn on the basis of two commissioners per geopolitical zone. So, vacancies existed for the North West and the South East, and the Senate has screened and confirmed the nominees, and Mr. President today performed the swearing in.
“So, we have almost the full compliments of commissioners of the commission. As we are aware also, about two weeks ago or so, we lost one of our commissioners, Major General Modibbo Alkali (retd), mayor his soul rest in peace. So now, we have almost the full compliments of commissioners.”
On electoral reforms, the INEC boss said that the commission has been interfacing with the National Assembly and that two weeks ago, it had a retreat in Lagos with the joint committee of the Senate and House of Representatives on electoral reform.
“Thereafter, the National Assembly is going to organise a public hearing, and it’s after the public hearing that now a new bill will, at the end of the day, be submitted to the President for assent.
“So, we’re working with the National Assembly on electoral reform, but at this point, I’m not going to give you any more details. You will hear from the National Assembly whose responsibility it is, but we reviewed the 2023, general elections on our own.
“We engaged with the stakeholders. We came up with 142 recommendations out of these 142 recommendations, eight require constitutional or Electoral Act amendment, and we discussed this with members of the National Assembly.
“So far so good, we are happy with our discussions with them, and we are also happy with the speed with which they want to proceed so that we’ll have some necessary amendments done to the Electoral Act ahead of the 2027, general elections.”
Regarding the question of his sack, he said: “I don’t think we need to waste time so much about these unnecessary speculations. As far as the law is concerned, and as far as I’m aware, I 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.”
The two new INEC Commissioners are Mallam Tukur Abdulrazaq Yusuf, representing Northwest , Professor Sunday Nwambam Aja, from Ebonyi State, representing Southeast.
The echoes of the drums rolled out to celebrate the rescue of the 44 teachers and students, kidnapped from some schools in Oyo State, after 56 days in the bush, would surely be disrupted abruptly, with the divergent echoes of a fresh abduction, this time coming from Kogi State.
Reports indicate that the gunmen, struck on Tuesday at the Government Secondary School, Odo-Ekina, in Dekina Local Government Area of the state, abducting four students, the school principal and a National Examinations Council (NECO) ad hoc staff member.
Authorities of the Kogi State Police Command, who immediately unleashed their operatives in hot pursuit of the abductors, said the attack occurred at about 5:25 p.m. while the students were writing their NECO examination.
Saliu Oyiza Afusat, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and spokesman of the command, said a combined team of police personnel and other security agencies has launched a search-and-rescue operation following the incident.
Informing that one of the students was actually rescued immediately, she said efforts were ongoing to secure the release of the remaining victims and apprehend the attackers, adding that Naziru Bello Kankarofi, the state Commissioner of Police, alongside the Brigade Commander and the State Security Adviser to the Governor, Commodore Jerry Omodara (Rtd), were already on the way to the scene for an on-the-spot assessment.
Oil prices are expected to go down now with the announcement of Donald Trump, US President that he will no longer impose a 20 percent “safe passage” fee on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
The POTUS, hinged his reversal of the decision on the intervention from some Gulf countries, who pleaded with him not to toe the line due to the massive economic impact the decision would make on the region.
Indeed, oil prices had shot up immediately Trump announced the new levy on Monday while declaring the US ‘the guardians of the Hormuz strait,’ a measure which he said was to pay for the cost of guarding the volatile area in order keep supply of oil flowing.
Reports said that Gulf allies of the US worked frantically to get Trump on the phone in time to talk him out of the idea altogether, while a flurry of appeals came from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar.
In response, the POTUS, posting on his Truth Social platform, wrote: “Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States.”
Trump, who said the investments would be “MASSIVE but, at the same time, extraordinarily good for them, and their future,” added that the deals would see factories, plants, and equipment pour into the US at “Historic levels.”
The Gulf nations have committed to invest trillions of dollars in the US, though it remains unclear how much of that they will actually spend over the next several years.
Meanwhile, the US continues to bomb Iran in what appears to be a resumption of active conflict between both countries, despite an ongoing roadmap to end the conflict.
Reports say operatives of the Osun State Police Command, and those of the Department of State Services (DSS) had tracking the trail of Adeniyi Adeyemi, controversial Director General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), for weeks, before he was eventually pulled out of his hole on Tuesday.
However, the duo, were said to have pulled back after failing to track him through his mobile phones, which he had reportedly switched off for about two days, making it difficult to locate him, leaving the stage for the members of the Police Intelligence Response Team (PI-RT) led by Moses Lohor, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP).
Lohor, said to have previously served as the Commander of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of Osun State, and reported to have been involved in high-profile security operations and controversies, after taken over fielded his men to pick up signals from their well-oiled signal networks.
Regarded by many Osun residents as one of the key security officers who contributed significantly to the peace and stability enjoyed in Ilesa and other parts of the state during his tenure, he was said to have relied on his contacts before his transfer out of the state, said to have raised concerns from the public about the security situation he would be leaving behind.
His exit from the state was said to be hinged on an incident in 2024, in which he allegedly shot one Iyanda Alowonle, then Chairman of Osun State Motor Transport System, in the stomach at the police station in the state prompting an order for his arrest by then Inspector General of Police (IGP).
His effort was said to have paid off when he successfully tracked down the controversial PFIPC, boss, who was seen on Tuesday evening, in a shot video on social media undergoing interrogation, and eventually handed him over to Ibrahim Gotan, Commissioner of Police in the state.
The PUNCH quoted one of the sources as saying: “The arrest (of Adeyemi) took place on Tuesday morning by the IRT squad, who immediately moved him to Abuja. After he was arrested, he was taken to Ibadan and from there to Abuja.”
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