Akunyili to be named INEC chairman

Written by Daily Trust Wednesday, 19 May 2010

The INEC chairman’s position became vacant two weeks ago, when Professor Maurice Iwu was ordered by the Presidency to proceed on terminal leave preparatory to the expiration of his 5-year tenure next month.

Sources told Daily Trust that President Jonathan worked on a long list of names from all over the country, and was under much pressure from the international community and from local civil society groups to appoint a very credible person as INEC chairman in order to lay the grounds for fulfilling his promise to ensure free and fair elections in the country next year.

However, Daily Trust learnt, a powerful delegation from the South Eastern states met with the president last week and complained that the East has lost and is still losing some key positions in the Federal Government in recent years. They particularly referred to the post of Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria [CBN], and said when Professor Chukwuma Soludo’s tenure was not renewed, the late President Umaru Yar’adua replaced him with a Northerner. They said the same thing must not happen again with the INEC chairmanship.

According to the sources, Dr. Jonathan agreed and assured the delegates that he would nominate the next INEC chairman from the South East. After reviewing several names, he finally settled for Professor Akunyili. The submission of her name to the Senate was delayed in order to allow the issue of the Vice Presidency to be settled first, Daily Trust learnt. With the confirmation of new Vice President Mohamed Namadi Sambo by the two chambers of the National Assembly yesterday, Mrs. Akunyili’s name could be forwarded to the Senate this week or very early next week, sources said.

When our reporter contacted Professor Akunyili last night and asked her to comment on her impending nomination as INEC chairman, she said, “I have no idea. What did I say?” Our reporter said, “You said you have no idea.” The minister said, “Okay, thank you very much. Good night.” A few minutes later, Mrs Akunyili called the reporter and said, “I think it is a rumour. If it is not a rumour, I would have been told.”

Mrs Akunyili is noted for her loyalty to President Goodluck Jonathan. She was the first minister in the old Yar’adua cabinet to sponsor a memo in the Federal Cabinet calling for an investigation into the health of Yar’adua after he had been hospitalised for weeks in Saudi Arabia. She later retreated to Lagos and granted a series of radio, television and newspaper interviews with both local and foreign media, railing against what she called “the cabal” around Yar’adua. After Jonathan dissolved the cabinet in March, she bounced back in the new one and retained her Information and Communications portfolio.