Why INEC chairman must be removed before 2019 elections - PANDEF chairman

macfranc007 July 01, 2018 Nigeria News today & Breaking news ▷ Read Naija news 24/7 Akinyemi Akinrujomu

- Nkanga says past leaders have chosen electoral body chair from areas different from their part of the country to ensure fairness

- He said while Mahmoud is a 'fine person', it is not proper for him to continue to remain in office

- Mahmoud's continued stay, he says, will only cause noise and allow people to challenge President Buhari's victory in 2019, should he win

The chairman of Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) retired Air Commodore Idongesit Nkanga has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to remove INEC boss Yakubu Mahmoud from office even though he is a 'fine person'.

Nkanga told The Punch in an interview that it was not proper for the main umpire of the 2019 elections, which the Nigerian leader wants to win, to come from his part of the country.

Nkanga alleged that in the last 58 years of Nigeria's political existence, it was only the current administration that has picked an electoral body chairman from the president's zone.

He said in order for fairness to be seen as done, then the INEC boss should be replaced by an equally competent person from a different region.

"We found out that since 1960, the only time we have had a president or head of country having the umpire of the elections from his own ethnic group is this (government).

Remember when former President (Goodluck) Jonathan was there, he said, when (Prof. Attahiru) Jega came, he had never met him and did not know him.

"Out of all the other heads of government that were listed during that press conference, if you look back, you will find out that there was none (that did such).

"So, we don’t want a case where after the 2019 elections, assuming Mr. President wins, people start murmuring that it was because he (Yakubu) was from his ethnic group and all that.

"If he (Buhari) wants to be honest, in fact, it is in his own interest that it was said that ‘you can get somebody from some other place to come and handle it’.

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"And we do know that when he came in, Mr. President appointed Mrs. Amina Zakari, who we understand is related to him, as acting chairman; and because there were lots of noise-making, she was dropped and Yakubu was brought in.

"Yakubu is a fine person. I have met him before but, under the circumstances, (we need) to give credibility to what will be done.

"We don’t want noise; we don’t want people questioning for no just cause after the election. Anybody who believes that our position is not correct is not just being honest."

NAIJ.com also reported that as the political scene begins to gear up for 2019, members of the opposition party have reportedly reached a consensus in their plot to defeat President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019.

The various parties have almost concluded terms of their alliance.

It was reported that the “Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Social Democratic Party (SDP), Labour Party, African Democratic Congress (ADC), New PDP (nPDP) and about 34 other parties and groups are close to signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the alliance.”

The next President of Nigeria. Who will win the 2019 elections? - on NAIJ.com TV