The African Democratic Congress has sharply criticised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s new ambassadorial nominations, describing the record as a political reward scheme somewhat than a severe effort to restore Nigeria’s broken international relations.
In a press release signed by its Nationwide Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the occasion mentioned the nomination of Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the fast previous chairman of the Impartial Nationwide Electoral Fee, INEC, raises elementary moral issues and additional undermines an electoral physique nonetheless battling public belief.
The occasion mentioned the appointment “would lend credence to the widespread allegation that the previous INEC chief could not have been a impartial umpire within the 2023 election,” noting that Yakubu supervised the extremely disputed ballot that produced President Tinubu and left INEC in a “main credibility disaster.”
The ADC argued that the nomination was in poor health timed and damaging. “At a time that Nigeria wants a disciplined and credible diplomatic corps able to rebuilding the nation’s collapsing credibility, President Tinubu has surpassed himself by presenting a comic book forged of political jobbers, corruption suspects, and patronage of wives, youngsters, and relations of political associates,” the assertion learn.
The occasion described Yakubu’s inclusion as “embarrassingly insensitive,” insisting that his acceptance would erase the road between those that run elections and those that profit from them. In keeping with the assertion, “If allowed to face, it will set a harmful precedent the place future INEC chairmen and commissioners could start to see their positions as stepping stones to future political rewards.”
The ADC questioned which class Yakubu falls into among the many nominees. “A cursory evaluation of the record would present that the majority nominees fall into three classes: former profession diplomats or ambassadors, political supporters or their relations, and members of the president’s political occasion. We surprise wherein of those three classes Prof. Yakubu belongs,” it mentioned.
The occasion acknowledged that no regulation bars him from taking the job however confused that “even when the regulation is silent, moral requirements should be upheld, particularly when the state of affairs assaults the very basis 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 personal legacy.” Ought to he decline to take action, the occasion known as on the Senate to reject his nomination as a way to defend public belief within the electoral course of.
