ADC rejects ambassadorial list, says Yakubu nomination threatens INEC’s integrity

The African Democratic Congress has sharply criticised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s new ambassadorial nominations, describing the list as a political reward scheme rather than a serious effort to repair Nigeria’s damaged foreign relations.

In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the party said the nomination of Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the immediate past chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, raises fundamental ethical concerns and further undermines an electoral body still struggling with public trust.

The party said the appointment “would lend credence to the widespread allegation that the former INEC chief may not have been a neutral umpire in the 2023 election,” noting that Yakubu supervised the highly disputed poll that produced President Tinubu and left INEC in a “major credibility crisis.”

The ADC argued that the nomination was ill timed and damaging. “At a time that Nigeria needs a disciplined and credible diplomatic corps capable of rebuilding the nation’s collapsing credibility, President Tinubu has surpassed himself by presenting a comic cast of political jobbers, corruption suspects, and patronage of wives, children, and relatives of political associates,” the statement read.

The party described Yakubu’s inclusion as “embarrassingly insensitive,” insisting that his acceptance would erase the line between those who run elections and those who benefit from them. According to the statement, “If allowed to stand, it would set a dangerous precedent where future INEC chairmen and commissioners may begin to see their positions as stepping stones to future political rewards.”

The ADC questioned which category Yakubu falls into among the nominees. “A cursory review of the list would show that almost all nominees fall into three categories: former career diplomats or ambassadors, political supporters or their relatives, and members of the president’s political party. We wonder in which of these three categories Prof. Yakubu belongs,” it said.

The party acknowledged that no law bars him from taking the job but stressed that “even when the law is silent, ethical standards must be upheld, especially when the situation attacks the very foundation of our democracy.”

The ADC urged Prof. Yakubu to reject the nomination “for the sake of INEC’s institutional credibility, the integrity of future elections, and the preservation of his own legacy.” Should he decline to do so, the party called on the Senate to reject his nomination in order to protect public trust in the electoral process.