Professor Mahmood Yakubu, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chairman, was quietly sent forth in Abuja in June but the farewell was cut short when President Bola Tinubu asked him to stay on.
On June 15, Yakubu’s closest aides and associates hosted an unpublicised dinner in his honour at the Continental Hotel, Abuja. The gathering marked what was expected to be his exit after serving two unprecedented terms as umpire of INEC.
Yakubu had cleared out his office, prepared handover notes, and even stacked away piles of books and personal effects. His plan was to proceed on a three-month terminal leave in July, paving the way for Tinubu to appoint a successor before the build-up to the 2027 elections.
But presidential sources told TheCable that Tinubu intervened, directing Yakubu to serve out his term, which formally ends on November 9, 2025 a day after the Anambra governorship election.
Insiders revealed Yakubu had considered handing over to May Agbamuche-Mbu, one of the most senior INEC commissioners, in a move reminiscent of July 2015 when Attahiru Jega handed the reins temporarily to Amina Zakari. Such a handover would have seen Agbamuche-Mbu enter the history books as acting INEC chair.
However, with intense lobbying over who succeeds Yakubu and the presidency still searching for a replacement, the professor of history has been asked to “hang on” until further notice.
For now, the electoral chief who thought he had bowed out is back in the saddle, steering the commission into another critical transition period.
