As the 2019 general election draws even nearer, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has appointed President Muhammadu Buhari’s niece, Amina Zakari, as the head of the election collation centre of the elections. Amina’s appointment has sparked outrage and condemnation, especially from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as well as other Nigerians.
Amina Zakari is to head a committee responsible for the national collation centre – the International Conference Centre – from where results of the Presidential election will be announced, INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu said during her inauguration.
But the condemnations over the development have continued to pour in, especially on social media with notable politicians such as the immediate past Governor of Ekiti state, Ayodele Fayose, ex-minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode and the PDP taking the lead. PDP described the appointment as “outright manipulation” and rejected it in entirety, the former Ekiti Governor, Fayose mocked INEC saying the commission should not only appoint Buhari’s niece but should also appoint one of Buhari’s children as Chairman.
According to happeningnownews.com, who cited Fayose, the ex-governor said, ”Instead of INEC appointing, Amina Zakari, a blood relation (niece) of President Buhari, as the Chairperson of INEC Advisory Committee and Presidential election Collation Center Committee, why not just appoint one of the President’s children as INEC Chairman?”
For Fani-Kayode, “Amina Zakari, Buhari’s neice and a member of his staff when he was Chairman of PTF has been appointed Chairperson of the INEC Advisory Committee & Pres. Election Collation Center Committee. Do you still believe that there will be a free and fair election in Nigeria on Feb. 16th?” Other Nigerians who decried the appointment said thus:
Alvin Hustleþ @AlvinHustle “Let it be known by all that INEC by appointing Amina Zakari to head the Collation center has rigged the 2019 Presidential election.”
Nwachukwuexcelingþ @Nwachukwuexcel4 “Replying to @vanguardngrnews Amina Zakari? What is going on here? Why must everything about this election tilt towards technical rigging?” Shedy®þ @ShedrackSaidu “The appointment of Amina Zakari in a sensitive position in inec is not entirely encouraging for our democracy.”
“Rogers harisonþ @rogersharison “The appiontment of AMINA ZAKARI as head of INEC Coalition Center is a prove that Buhari plans to rig 2019.” African Giant – LadiþVerified account @LadiSpeaks “APC did all they could to slander Atiku, it didn’t work Now they are so desperate that they have appointed Amina Zakari to head collation so she can easily change results! So much for integrity.”
Adewale Ajakayeþ @WAjakaye “PDP has so many dramas. They should go to ask the court to remove the woman because her uncle is a presidential candidate. If my father is a football player, I have no right to become a referee in his match, isn’t so? INEC’s job is a professional one.
” CrossÚþ @Elcrucifixio “With Amina Zakari as head of INEC collation centre, I don’t think there’d be any need for the February 16th election. The result has been decided before the poll. No wonder they haven’t been campaigning.””
Remiþ @Ceorhemz “Apart from Amina Zakari‘s close family ties with Buhari, the new head of INEC collation committee along with el Rufai was part of the Afri-Projects Consult, which carried out contracts for the (PTF) which Buhari headed under Abacha. Keep expecting a Free & Fair election.”
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday rejected the appointment of Mrs. Amina Zakari, a relative of President Muhammadu Buhari as chairperson of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC Advisory Committee and Election Collation Centre Committee, saying it is a ploy to rig the polls in favour of the President. Mrs Amina Bala Zakari Addressing journalists at the Presidential Campaign headquarters yesterday, Director, Media and Publicity of the PDP Presidential Council, PPCO, Kola Ologbondiyan said the party would not accept the choice of Mrs. Zakari for reasons it had enumerated in the past.
“Today (yesterday), we have been informed that the Chairman of INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, apparently in furtherance of the plots to rig the Presidential election, has appointed Mrs. Amina Zakari, a blood relation (niece) of the APC candidate, President Muhammadu Buhari, as the Chairperson of INEC Advisory Committee and Presidential election Collation Center Committee.
Reacting to her appointment, PDP reiterated its recent claim that President Muhammadu Buhari was determined to rig himself back into power, hence the appointment of Zakari.
In a press statement issued by its spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan, the former ruling party said: “We have called you up again today to alert Nigerians of another heinous machination by the Buhari Presidency and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to subvert the will of the people and rig the February 16, Presidential election.
“You will recall that we have been raising the flag on how the Buhari Presidency, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and some individuals at the echelon of INEC have been seeking ways to compromise our electoral processes and open the way for the allocation of fictitious votes to President Muhammadu Buhari, having realized that he cannot win in a credible, free and fair polls.
“Today, we have been informed that the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, apparently in furtherance of the plots to rig the Presidential election, has appointed Mrs. Amina Zakari, a blood relation (niece) of the APC candidate, President Muhammadu Buhari, as the Chairperson of INEC Advisory Committee and Presidential election Collation Center Committee.
“The Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Organization (PPCO) outrightly, vehemently and unequivocally rejects, in its entirety, the appointment of Mrs. Amina Zakari, President Buhari’s blood relation, as the head of the collation of results, in the same election in which his uncle, President Buhari, as a candidate, has displayed a huge desperation to win.
“The appointment of Mrs. Amina Zakari, who had been openly accused in various quarters as being the link person between INEC and the Buhari
Presidency in their schemes to rig the election for President Buhari, constitutes a direct violence against the Presidential election and the PDP will not, in any way, whatsoever, accept it.
“This is the same Amina Zakari, who headed the ICT Department of INEC at the time that department was accused of manipulating the INEC voter register to accommodate fictitious, underage and alien voters, particularly, in remote areas where they plan to allocate and announce conjured votes for President Buhari and the APC.
“It will interest Nigerians to note that this is the same Amina Zakari that was alleged to have played some roles in the 2018 governorship election in Osun state, where the electoral processes were flagrantly abused.
“In appointing Mrs. Amina Zakari to head the collation of this Presidential election, Professor Yakubu has confirmed that he has been compromised and that he has already succumbed to pressure by the Presidency and APC to open the way for the self-succession of President Buhari,” the party said.
Ologbondiyan argued that there was no way Amina Zakari “will not allocate votes to her blood relation, President Buhari, whom Nigerians have indicated clearly that they are not ready to return to office as President,” adding that with her “at the head of results collation, there is no way votes cast by Nigerians will count.”
It continued: “We call on all Nigerians and particularly the National Peace Committee to note that with the appointment of Amina Zakari, as head the collation of Presidential results, the INEC Chairman is setting the stage for a very huge political crisis, which is capable of derailing our democratic process.
“We also urge the United Nations and other global democratic institutions to take copious note of this noxious appointment by the INEC Chairman. “If the INEC Chairman wants a peaceful Presidential election, he should, with the speed of light, reverse himself on this appointment.”
The party warned of grave consequences should the 2019 elections fall short of the credibility test in the eyes of Nigerians and the global community. A source at INEC who declined to be named however said Amina Zakari was simply appointed to manage the situation room the collation of results of the Presidential election.
According to him, “The woman was appointed as chairperson of the committee in charge of the collation centre which is the International Conference Centre (ICC) Abuja and not committee in charge of collation of results. The INEC Chairman remains the Chief collation and returning officer for the Presidential election.”
PDP, however, assured that it remained “committed to a peaceful and credible process, but we will never, in any way, allow anybody to use any means, under any guise
whatsoever, to rig us out in this election. Not after it is clear that Nigerians have attained a consensus to rally behind our Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, as their next President.
“All we ask for is a free, fair, credible and transparent electoral process in which the votes of Nigerians will not only count but will be seen to have counted.
“Like Mr. President said during his 2019 budget presentation at the National Assembly, the world is watching us,” the statement added.
Also, Ppresident General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Nnia Nwodo has told Nigerians to hold the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and the Federal Government responsible should anything happen to the nation’s democracy.
This is as Nwodo called on Mrs. Amina Zakari, a national commissioner in INEC to resign from the commission because of her blood relation to President Muhammadu Buhari.
Reacting to INEC’s appointment of Mrs. Zakari as head of Election Collation Committee, yesterday, Nwodo said it was bad enough that Mrs. Zakari was allowed to continue to serve in INEC and worse by INEC appointing her in the new position. “It’s like Rangers VS Kano Pillars and Kano Pillars is allowed to nominate a referee.
It’s impossible for justice to be done. In a civilized clime Amina Zakari should have resigned,” he maintained.
“I expected the APC government having come to power through a free and fair election conducted by another president, they should not destroy the history.
“I call on Amina Zakari to honourably resign. Whatever happens to our democracy tomorrow, they (INEC and Federal Government) should hold themselves responsible.
“With continued membership of Mrs. Zakari in the commission, the corporate personality of INEC is seriously whittled down; making her head of collation committee is worse than anything anybody can imagine,” Nwodo said.
In its reaction, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday said it will not allow the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) dictate to it how it will conduct the 2019 general elections.
Speaking in a chat with newsmen, Rotimi Oyekanmi, Chief Press Secretary (CPS), to the INEC Chairman also warned the PDP to desist from its personal attacks on one of its National Commissioners, Mrs Amina Zakari.
“What is this crazy phobia about Amina Zakari? Why is one political party paranoid about this woman? There are 12 National Commissioners in INEC, why are they singling her out always? We are not going to allow one political party to dictate to us how to manage our affairs.
“If they have any problem with Amina Zakari, they should let us know. She was appointed by former President Goodluck Jonathan under the PDP government. She was not appointed under the present dispensation. Throughout the time she was there under Jega, this same PDP did not see anything wrong with her. Every national commissioner is entitled to having a renewed term and her term was renewed.
“This woman has a family, children and yet people are just attacking her for nothing. What did she do? Would they be happy if anybody is doing this to their wives?
“The way INEC is structured, not even the INEC chairman can rig the election in favour of any political party or any candidate in this country today.
“He is incapable of doing so because the system will not allow it. So, if the INEC Chairman cannot rig, where is the national commissioner that wants to rig?”