The Senate on Thursday, October 29, 2015 confirmed the nomination of Professor Mahmood Yakubu, as the chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
The Senate also confirmed the nominations of five others as federal commissioners to represent the various geopolitical zones of the country.
Those confirmed as federal commissioner of the electoral umpire were Alhaji Baba Shettima Arfo, Dr. Anthonia Taiye Okoosi Simbine, Mrs Amina Zakari, Dr. Mohammed Mustapha Lecky and Mr. Soyebi Adedeji Solomon.
The confirmation of their nominations came after they were successfully screened by the Red Chamber.
Meanwhile, the new INEC boss when he appeared for screening said he will not allow manipulation of elections during his era.
He said under his chairmanship, “No election will be won or lost at the Headquarters of INEC.”
He also said the State Headquarters of the electoral body would be carried along on his principled commitment to conducting free and fair election without compromises during his tenure.
Prof. Mahmood said he has the character to head INEC more effectively, stating “I cannot be intimidated. It is too late for that. I have the character to do the right thing.
He raised the hope that Nigeria would soon be deploying the use of electronic machine to conduct future elections, although he said INEC would take cautious steps in adopting electronic machine.
He said e-voting is desirable, adding “whereas experiences have shown that we have to tread cautiously before adopting e-voting. We will not rush into using it because there is room for improvement.
The new INEC boss rose in defence of the use of card readers during the last general election in 2015, noting that the shortcomings that greeted the use during last elections were normal.
He alluded to the problem of manpower and the expertise, weather and other logistics problems as the bane of the Card Readers used during the conduct of the last general elections.
