This was not the first occurrence in the Independent National Electoral Commission but its suddenness is what might have created the confusion. Within a space of less than 24 hours, INEC has had two handover ceremonies!
Professor Attahiru Jega, whose tenure ended June 30, handed over to Ambassador Mohammed Wali around 9 a.m. that same day. About 7 p.m. also on June 30, Hajiya Amina Bala Zakari was named by President Mohammed Buhari as INEC acting chairperson, and in the morning of July 1, another handover ritual was performed in INEC.
The situation in 2010 was a bit different. After Professor Maurice Iwu was sacked as INEC Chairman, by former President Goodluck Jonathan, Mr. Philip Umeadi (Jnr.) assumed office on acting capacity. Unarguably, Umeadi was the most senior of the three remaining INEC national commissioners at that time but Iwu refused to hand over to him because of the disagreement between them.
Umeadi acted for two weeks until Prince Solomon Soyebi’s appointment on May 11. Perhaps, the former President would have allowed seniority to prevail but for certain reasons. In the first place, the crisis of confidence between Iwu and Umeadi, which prevented the former from officially handing over to his would-be successor, was derailing activities at the election house.
Though Umeadi had forcefully taken over as acting chairman, Secretary to the Commission, Alhaji Abdullahi Kaigama was still relating with the former chairman, and perhaps, more loyal to him than to Umeadi, who was the acting chairman. Jonathan must have reasoned that it was better to invoke his powers as President and appoint someone else acting chairman for smooth running of the commission, pending the appointment of a substantive chairman.
The second reason was the combined effect of Section 8 (3) of Decree No. 17 of 1998 that established INEC, and Section 14 (1a) of the Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended. Section 8(3) of Decree 17 of 1998, states that “during the chairman’s absence on leave, or if the chairman is otherwise not available or is unable to perform his functions, the Head of State, Commander-in- Chief of the Armed Forces may appoint any member of the commission to act as chairman for any specified period.”
This power Jonathan exercised to appoint Prince Solomon Soyebi INEC acting chairman in 2010, and which President Buhari also exercised to name Mrs. Amina Zakari acting chairperson in 2015. Also, Section 14 (1a) of the 1999 Constitution says a person to be appointed chairman of INEC (whether substantive or acting capacity) shall be 50 years old and above. Of the three National Commissioners serving in the Commission at that time, only Prince Soyebi was over 50 years old; Philip Umeadi (Jnr.) was 46 years old at that time.
But the situation in INEC last week was a different scenario. Professor Attahiru Jega had given notice of his retirement to the presidency, in compliance with the electoral law. He was not sacked (as was the case with Iwu). Therefore, President Buhari had ample time to decide who would stand in as acting chairman pending the appointment of his successor.
Unfortunately, this was not done, thereby giving the impression that the president did not trust the person Professor Jega handed over. A school of thought argued that the former INEC chairman erred by handing over to one of the national commissioners when he knew that he has no such powers. But should Jega be blamed when, besides the fact that the presidency was aware that his five-year tenure would end on June 30, the former INEC chairman indicated that he had no interest in seeking re-appointment?
He said so immediately after the presidential election. If he had walked away as Iwu had done, there would have been leadership vacuum! Out of the six national commissioners remaining, four will retire between July and August, so how would such be resolved among them if Professor Jega had not decided to handover to someone?
No doubt, the power to appoint an acting INEC chairman is vested in the President and Commander-in-Chief, as stated by Femi Adesina, Special Adviser (Media and Publicity), but unfortunately, the handling of the whole process gave impression of indecision on the part of the President. INEC is an institution built on trust and there should be mutual trust among the management team and other staff so as to be able to deliver credible elections.
The President, who is invested with the power to appoint chairman of the commission and other management staff should also exercise such powers in a manner that will inspire confidence of other critical stakeholders in the INEC activities. Such confidence and trust existed in the past five years, and it is expected that it would continue.