Professor Mahmood Yakubu has stepped aside from his role as Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), handing over leadership to May Agbamuche-Mbu, who will now serve as Acting National Chairman.
Yakubu announced his decision on Tuesday during a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
His exit follows months of internal unrest within the commission, as staff expressed growing dissatisfaction with his leadership.
In June, a coalition of employees under the banner “Concerned Staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Nationwide” had publicly called for Yakubu’s removal. The group accused him of abuse of office and running INEC as a “one-man show.”
In a letter addressed to President Bola Tinubu and obtained by THE WHISTLER, the aggrieved staff alleged that Yakubu withheld allowances approved by the federal government while he and other national commissioners continued to benefit.
“Prof Mahmood Yakubu has turned the commission into a one-man show,” the letter claimed.
“He singlehandedly runs the commission by himself, with himself, and for himself.”
The employees further accused him of verbal abuse, punitive transfers, and obstructing the formation of staff associations. They urged anti-graft agencies, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), to investigate INEC’s financial records.
Yakubu, who first assumed office on November 9, 2015, made history in 2020 as the first INEC Chairman to be reappointed for a second term under former President Muhammadu Buhari.
May Agbamuche-Mbu, who now takes over in an acting capacity, previously served as the National Commissioner overseeing Edo, Rivers, and Bayelsa States.
