President Bola Tinubu has accepted the departure of Mahmood Yakubu as chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) following the completion of his second term in office.
Yakubu was first appointed in November 2015 as the 14th chairman of the commission for an initial term of five years and reappointed in 2020.
In a statement on Tuesday, Bayo Onanuga, the president’s special adviser on information and strategy, said Tinubu expressed appreciation for Yakubu’s “services to the nation and his efforts to sustain Nigeria’s democracy, particularly through the organisation of free and fair elections throughout his two-term tenure”.
Onanuga said as part of the recognition for his contributions to the nation, Tinubu bestowed the national honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) on Yakubu.
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He said the president also directed Yakubu to hand over to May Agbamuche-Mbu, the most senior national commissioner, who will oversee the affairs of the electoral body pending the appointment of a substantive chairman.
On Tuesday, Yakubu handed over the leadership of the commission to Agbamuche-Mbu as the acting chairperson of INEC.
Yakubu oversaw the conduct of two general elections—in 2019 and 2023—and several off-cycle governorship and legislative polls.
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Under his leadership, INEC introduced several reforms, including the bimodal voter accreditation system (BVAS) and the INEC result viewing (iReV) portal, aimed at enhancing transparency and credibility in the electoral process.
