Former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has taken a swipe at the current Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, accusing him of lacking the transparency that defined the 2015 elections.
Speaking during an appearance on Arise TV Tuesday night, Amaechi claimed that if Yakubu had been in charge during the pivotal 2015 polls, the All Progressives Congress (APC) would not have emerged victorious—nor even been registered.
“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 said.
He credited former INEC boss, Prof. Attahiru Jega, for overseeing a fair process that allowed the APC to meet registration requirements and participate in the elections.
“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.”
Amaechi went further to accuse INEC under Yakubu of displaying early signs of bias and serving interests that hinder democratic growth.
“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.”
“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.”
