For Yakubu, Silence Should Have Been an Option

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu came under attacks for ridiculing the commission by hailing Ghana for the seamless conduct of the 2024 presidential election and claiming that the country’s electoral body emulated INEC.

Former President John Mahama emerged winner of Ghana’s presidential election held on December 7, 2024, after his main opponent, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, conceded defeat.

Many Nigeria who condemned INEC on the social media, argued that the electoral umpire should have covered its face in shame

 They accused Yakubu of going overboard to claim that Ghana learnt the management of election results from Nigeria.

Nigerians watched with in utter disbelief how Yakubu lavished praises on his Ghanaian counterpart for conducting a credible election that saw an opposition leader emerge victorious as president-elect.

Besides the transparency that characterised the election, the results were known with 24 hours after the polls, unlike the Nigerian presidential election conducted under Yakubu’s watch which took five days.

The same Yakubu presided over the widely criticised 2023 general election, marred by massive irregularities, manipulation of INEC’s technology and allegations of rigging by the major political parties.

Many critics considered it an aberration for Yakubu whose INEC has constantly failed Nigerians to have claimed that Ghanaian electoral body learnt from Nigeria.

The question many are asking the INEC chairman is that if INEC taught Ghana, how come Nigeria cannot have a credible elections across the country?  

That almost 80 per cent of the elections conducted by him were challenged in court, speaks to the integrity of the institution under him.

In Ghana, the people’s votes were respected and counted, a stark contrast to the Nigerian experience. 

With the massive investment INEC had made in technological innovations, Yakubu had the opportunity to conduct the most transparent and acceptable elections in Nigeria’s history. However, it is believe that INEC manipulated its own technology and undermined the essence of democracy.

As Ghana shines as a beacon of democracy, Nigeria, which should have been the leading democracy in Africa, has become a laughing stock in the comity of nations, having lost its prestigious ‘giant of Africa’ status.