IT was a shock to many last week, when respected former lawmaker, top civil servant, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, revealed that he knew the “Acting-Chairperson” of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) “Mrs Amina Zakari since childhood, and that her late father, the former Emir of Kazaure, was married to President Buhari’s elder sister”.

Alhaji Yakassai, in the said interview in the Tribune of July 27,2015 at page 22 added that, as a matter of fact, President “Buhari lived with and spent a significant part of his early years in the home of Amina Zakari’s father”. It is difficult to dispute this claim, because Alhaji Yakassai insisted that “Amina Zakari’s father worked under me as a
Permanent Secretary and was a close friend for many years.”

In effect, what this reveals is that the ties of Mrs. Zakari to the President which had been linked to Afriprojects Consortium prior to this recent claim, is in fact much more familial than any of the parties had been willing to admit.

It comes as a great shock given the trust that most of us had reposed on the integrity of Mr. President. It reveals a worrisome streak of nepotism that elevates the courage and integrity of the former President Goodluck Jonathan, who had searched very widely and very carefully for a man of integrity, far removed from his circle of family, friends, party and geo-political zone to ensure that the impartiality of the electoral umpire was unblemished by suspicions of partisanship.
Since the interview revelation by Alhaji Yakassai, none of the parties to the claim, has disputed nor controverted the claims of the former lawmaker.

It is quite a disappointment, that one of the few areas that the former President Jonathan had been extoled for, will become one of the early sources of disappointment by a President who has received so much goodwill from Nigerians because of the trust that we have all reposed on his ability to rise above such divisive attributes, such as an ill-disguised nepotism.

Worst still and very unfortunate for the country is the loud silence of well-known leading civil right activists and lawyers on this violent breach of the constitution; except for the effable explanations of Professor Itse Sagay who stated “that her acting as chairperson of INEC was valid and backed by relevant provisions of the constitution…… from what l gathered”, but unusually for him, he could not cite any legal or constitutional backing for his argument. This to say the least is most unfortunate coming from one who should give direction and speak truth to authority.

The tragedy of these developments is that the same people who are by their silence or are openly encouraging the President now on this path of unconstitutionality, would be the ones who will turn round to pillory him, when they fail to get the anticipated favours they are expecting from Mr. President. Those who want the President and his team to succeed most tell him the truth, more so, when we do not expect appointment or contracts, but only wish for good governance based on the rule of Law.

Furthermore, nepotism, tribalism and a stoic and uncaring disposition towards the need for inclusivity has been at the pivot of most of the national disputes, which often threatens the unity of the country on many occasions.

From the disputes around the first post-independence elections, through the interventions of the first military interventionists and the corresponding conflicts that followed, most of the regional and national disputes have been underpinned by the reality and perception of social, cultural or ethnic exclusion.

It is therefore disappointing to say the least, that a President, who was a major recurring role player in these ebbs and crest of our national history, can brook such indifference to a main cause of our national recurrent malady.

It is even more pathetic that in executing this indifference to the sensitivity of the national mood, for a new way of doing things, the President needlessly reversed the decisions of a chairperson of INEC, whose unblemished integrity and impartiality ensured that he broke the jinx of political contest, between incumbent presidents and other political contestants.

It is difficult not to imagine that by the action of the President, he is probably acting like someone who having climbed up a tree with the help of a public ladder, and has decided to break the ladder to prevent any other person from climbing the tree to enjoy its benefits.

In the haste to ensure an advantage for his relative, the President was willing to breach several laws, including the constitution that he swore to less than 60 days ago, to defend and respect. First he caused the Head of the Civil Services to assume powers that he did not possess, by indicating in writing that he could prematurely terminate the tenure of an INEC National Commissioner outside the provision of section 157 of the constitution, by claiming that the tenure of Mrs. Zakari had ended with that of Prof Jega on the 30th of June, instead of the statutory date of July 21st 2015. Then in the same letter it was purported that the President had appointed Mrs. Zakari as an “Acting-Chairperson “ of INEC, a title that is unknown to the constitution, where the President ought to derive his powers from, or any Nigerian law in relation to the office of INEC chair person.

By this breach of the constitution, the Presidential blunder has created a needless impasse for the national electoral body, as of today, the Commission which had only recently regained its respect is seen as a body that is headed by an illegitimate leader.

Moreover, having lost an additional member who recently died after a protracted illness, the Commission is unable to form a legitimate quorum as required by section 159(1) of the constitution that requires five members, whereas they are now three legal and legitimate members. Mrs Zakari’s five years tenure like that of others, in line with Section 155 of the constitution, ended 21st of July 2015, even though she is still hanging around loosely and illegally as the President’s relative.

The question is : Can the price of pleasing a relative be worth the destruction of a national institution like INEC?
How will the President like to be remembered in terms of the integrity and quality of elections? Will he want to surpass the much vaunted achievements of Goodluck Jonathan on political tolerance and electoral integrity or will he return the country to the era of vanquished political enemies?

We are already disappointed by the appointment of the Presidents relative on a title that is unknown to law, to head a sensitive institution like INEC, the President must restore our confidence by correcting the wrong perceptions already created about his intentions for the “independence” of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
•Mr. Rotimi Adebisi, a public affairs analyst, wrote from Ibadan, Oyo State.