Professor Mahmood Yakubu has handed over to May Agbamuche as the Acting National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Agbamuche is the oldest serving National Commissioner in the electoral body.
Professor Yakubu announced this on Tuesday at the ongoing meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners at the INEC headquarters in Abuja.
He solicited the support of the commissioners and directors of the commission for Agbamuche, until the appointment of a substantive chairman.
Professor Mahmood Yakubu is leaving office as INEC chairman, having completed his two-term tenure of 10 years.
President Tinubu is expected to appoint his successor soon, subject to a Senate confirmation.
Yakubu was first appointed the INEC chairman by former President Muhammadu Buhari to oversee the activities of the electoral umpire in November 2015, six months after he assumed the office as the President.
Professor Yakubu handing over to Mrs Agbamuche as INEC Acting Chairman
He completed his first term in office as the electoral body’s chairman in 2020, and was reappointed for a second term by President Buhari.
Yakubu’s reappointment by President Buhari made him the first person to serve as INEC chairman for two terms.
He took over from Professor Attahiru Jega, with INEC conducting many elections, including the 2019 and 2023 general elections.
With Yakubu having completed his tenure at the helm of INEC affairs, Nigerians, along with civil society organisations, are looking forward to seeing who succeeds him.
Any time from now, President Tinubu is expected to nominate a substantive successor to Yakubu, and civil society groups are already demanding transparency in the process.
Last month, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) urged President Bola Tinubu to “urgently disclose details of the selection and appointment process for the successor to Professor Mahmood Yakubu.”
SERAP urged the President to “disclose the number and names of candidates for INEC chairman and whether the Council of State has been consulted or would be consulted in making the appointment, as constitutionally required.”
The group stated this in a letter by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, a copy obtained by Channels Television.
According to the letter dated September 27, the group asked Tinubu to “use the opportunity of the appointment of a new INEC chairman to reconsider your appointment of at least three alleged members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) of the INEC and to nominate non-members of a political party as replacement.”
“The selection and appointment process for Mr Yakubu’s replacement cannot and should not be ‘a closed shop.’ A transparent and accountable process would serve legitimate public interests,” the letter partly read.
Also commenting on the appointment of a new INEC chairman, the Executive Director of Yiaga Africa, Samson Itodo, said that Nigeria needs an individual with an unblemished character as the national chairman of the electoral body.
Itodo said anyone who would succeed Yakubu, should have no political affiliation and be courageous to do the lawful thing, no matter whose ox is gored.
The Yiaga Africa leader spoke when he appeared as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday, September 24, 2025.
He also noted that the remarkable reforms recorded by INEC had been dampened by electoral fraud.