BREAKING: Tinubu reportedly asks INEC chairman to proceed on leave, shops for successor

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has allegedly directed the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, to proceed on leave ahead of the expiration of his tenure.

According to insider sources, the directive follows what has been described as Yakubu’s “last-minute betrayal” of the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration that appointed him.

Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma reportedly met with President Tinubu shortly after the president returned from a 12-day working vacation, alleging that Mahmood’s efforts to register new political parties at the end of his tenure had disrupted Tinubu’s preparations for a second term.

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The governor also claimed that Mahmood was covertly backing a candidate in the Imo State governorship election.

Following this briefing, Tinubu reportedly requested that Mahmood suspend all official duties and proceed on terminal leave.

The decision has thrown the commission’s schedule into disarray, leading to the abrupt cancellation of Mahmood’s final quarterly consultative meeting with political parties, as well as a planned session with civil society organisations.

Tinubu is now expected to submit the name of a new INEC Chairman to the National Assembly in the coming days.