By Charles Maduka
Former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has claimed that the All Progressives Congress would not have secured registration or won the 2015 general elections if the current Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mahmood Yakubu, had been in charge at the time.
Speaking during an interview on Arise TV, Amaechi credited former INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, for enabling a transparent process that led to the APC’s registration and electoral victory.
“The current chairman of INEC, if he was the chairman in 2015, we would not have won,” Amaechi stated. “May God bless Jega. The ground rules were clear under him. He opened the door for us, and we complied with the registration requirements. But the current man, even if you comply, he would not register you.”
Amaechi further alleged that INEC under Yakubu is already biased and compared him unfavorably with past controversial election officials.
“Already, INEC is biased. Looking at the way elections are run in Nigeria today, even Option A4 was better. At least you saw transparency. Now, things have regressed. There is a kind of state capture happening using the electoral institution,” he said.
He suggested that rather than progressing, Nigeria’s electoral system might be slipping backward, warning of the dangers of manipulating democratic institutions.
Amaechi’s comments have sparked political debate, especially amid increasing public scrutiny of electoral integrity under the current INEC leadership.
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