Has INEC Gotten An Acting Chairman? Here’s The Truth Behind Viral Report

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has a new acting chairman, Mr. Sam Olumekun, Dtruth Insights reports.

Olumekun, who is INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, was referred to as the acting INEC Chairman during a meeting with the Labour Party leadership on Wednesday.

According to The Whistler, Professor Yakubu, the current INEC chairman, is in the Gambia attending the ECONEC (ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions) meeting.
According to constitutional provisions, the tenure of an INEC chairman is five years, and they typically leave at the end of their term unless their appointment is renewed. Yakubu assumed the role on November 9, 2015, and became the first INEC chairman to be sworn in for a second term after former President Muhammadu Buhari renewed his appointment in 2020.

Section 157 of the constitution states that the president can only remove the INEC chairman with the support of two-thirds of the Senate.

On Monday afternoon, a message circulated on WhatsApp, falsely claiming that Prof. Yakubu had been replaced by Prof. Olamilekan Bashiru.

The message, which lacked credible attribution, stated: “INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu has been replaced with Prof. Bashiru Olamilekan by President Tinubu.”

In response to the report, the Senior Special Adviser to President Tinubu on Digital Media and New Media, O’tega Ogra, in a post on his 𝕏 handle on Monday afternoon, described it as ‘fake news.’

Yakubu, who is nearing the end of his second term as INEC Chairman, is expected to exit the position towards the end of this year.