…Observers are asking: “Who’ll take charge of polls?”
With just 60 days left until the end of Professor Mahmood Yakubu’s historic decade at the helm of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Nigeria is on edge over who will steer the nation’s elections into 2027.
Yakubu’s second and final five-year tenure officially winds down on November 9, 2025 – a day after he supervises his last major poll, the Anambra governorship election. That vote, set for November, 8 across 5,720 polling units, could well define his legacy.
Appointed in 2015 by President Muhammadu Buhari and reappointed in 2020, Yakubu is Nigeria’s longest-serving electoral umpire since 1999. He oversaw two general elections (2019 and 2023), introduced innovations like fixed election dates, BVAS accreditation and IReV result viewing, but also faced fierce criticism over technical failures, alleged rigging, and surging voter apathy.
The looming vacancy has triggered an intense succession debate. By law, President Bola Tinubu will nominate the next INEC chair, subject to Senate approval.
Tradition dictates that presidents pick from zones outside their own to avoid bias; but with Tinubu hailing from the South-West, pressure mounts for him to look elsewhere, particularly the North-Central, which has never produced an INEC boss.
Yet, speculation swirls. Some reports point to AbdulRazak Yusuf, while others tout Interior Minister, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo as a ‘reformist’ option.
Civil society groups warn against a Yoruba pick, fearing it would compromise the 2027 general elections where Tinubu is widely expected to run again.
Yakubu has already delivered what could be his farewell speech to electoral counterparts, insisting he will leave behind “a stronger Commission”. However, critics argue the Anambra poll will be his ultimate test – and Nigeria’s first glimpse of what comes after him.
