The acting chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Hajiya Amina Bala Zakari, has revealed why she remains the acting boss of the electoral body despite the expiration of her tenure as a National Commissioner in the commission on July 21.
According to a statement from INEC, she declared that, “my letter of appointment as acting chairman claimed categorically I should act pending when a new commission is put in place.”
Hajiya Zakari, during an interview she granted Channels Television last week, at the commission’s headquarters, re-affirmed the commission’s commitment to its role of being an unbiased umpire in the electoral process.
She spoke on a wide range of issues, including her appointment, the commission’s preparedness for the forthcoming elections in Bayelsa and Kogi states, election tribunals, the Electoral Act and security.
“INEC is an independent organisation as enshrined in the constitution and all INEC staff are aware of that. We have all signed on to the oath of neutrality. So, I think as a Nigerian, your main concern should be when you are given a task, you should be conscious enough to remove your personal feeling from the job,” she said.
When asked about her response to the controversy surrounding her appointment, she responded thus: “I think we should not distract ourselves from the issues at hand. I have been in the commission. I am a National Commissioner. I passed through the Senate screening to become a National Commissioner, and by virtue of that, I am appointed acting chairman of the commission. So, there shouldn’t have been much controversy. But be it as may, I have a job to do and I am set to do that job.”