Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, says the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) does not require the intervention of the federal government to deal with its erring staff.
The Minister’s comment comes after the suspension of the Adamawa Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Hudu Yunusa-Ari, over his “unwholesome behavior” during the just concluded Adamawa governorship supplementary election.
Yunusa-Ari had declared Aisha ‘Binani’ Dahiru, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the winner, even though the results had not been announced. This caused a lot of protests in the state, with members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) marching through the streets of Yola, the capital of the state, to protest the announcement.
Speaking after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Wednesday, Mohammed stated that President Muhammadu Buhari did not intervene in the crisis because he does not micromanage any of the government’s institutions. He said that the chairman of INEC is in charge of all employees of the commission and he’s handling the issue.
According to Mohammed, “I don’t think that this government has ever intervened in the way the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) conducts its elections. So, there’s no need for us to intervene. It was an entirely INEC matter and INEC handled it. So, what do you want the government to do?”
He further stated that he was not aware of any petition regarding the issue, and it was not addressed to him. Mohammed advised the media to direct their questions to INEC since it is the commission’s responsibility to take necessary steps in such cases.
Lai Mohammed also emphasized that the president does not micromanage every institution and that the wrong question was being asked. The government did not interfere in the issue as it was within INEC’s jurisdiction to handle it.
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