A prominent Nigerian civil society group, the Peering Advocacy and Advancement Center in Africa (PAACA), has called for the swift confirmation of former Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, following his nomination for a diplomatic post by the government of President Bola Tinubu. The nomination, which has not yet been formally confirmed by the Senate, follows Yakubu’s tenure overseeing a series of keenly contested elections in Nigeria.
A Legacy of Institutional Reform
PAACA specifically highlighted Professor Yakubu’s significant contributions across Nigeria’s public sector, linking his service under three different administrations—those of former Presidents Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari, and the current administration of Bola Tinubu. The group drew particular attention to his reforms while leading the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), an agency responsible for funding university-level education across the country, as well as his leadership of INEC, which it credited with producing “some of the most competitive elections in Nigeria’s history.”A statement from PAACA emphasized the academic foundation of his public service:“Beyond his public service record, Professor Yakubu is first and foremost a distinguished academic. He is a scholar of the highest standing. His academic training and global exposure have played a major role in the innovations he introduced across Nigeria’s education and electoral systems.”The group urged the Nigerian Senate to “expedite the confirmation process” and called on the former INEC boss to leverage his new diplomatic position to “further advance Nigeria’s diplomatic interests” on the global stage.
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