Godwin Orozo-
Former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has taken a swipe at the current chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, saying the All Progressives Congress (APC) would not have been registered or won the 2015 elections if Yakubu had been in charge at the time.
Speaking during an interview on Arise Television on Tuesday night, Amaechi credited the success of the APC’s formation and victory in 2015 to the leadership of then-INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega.
“If the current chairman of INEC was in office in 2015, we wouldn’t have won,” Amaechi stated. “That’s an important point. May God bless Jega. The ground rules were clear under him.”
Amaechi went further to draw comparisons between Yakubu and former INEC Chairman Maurice Iwu, under whose tenure elections were widely criticised for lacking transparency.
“The current chairman of INEC can only be compared to Iwu,” 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 still not register you.”
Accusing the current INEC leadership of partisanship, Amaechi expressed concern over the credibility of Nigeria’s electoral process.
“Already, INEC is biased,” he alleged. “Looking at the way Nigeria has run elections, even the Option A4 system gave us more transparency. At least, you were sure of what was going on. But now, with people like Iwu and the current one, things have only gotten worse.”
He concluded with a stark warning about what he described as the politicisation of the electoral body.
“There’s a state capture using the electoral institution as a machine,” he said. “So, you don’t even know if we are progressing or regressing.”
