BY CAROLINE AMEH
When Professor Mahmood Yakubu assumed office as Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in November 2015, Nigeria was emerging from one of the most keenly contested elections in its history. Expectations were high, and the legacy of his predecessor, Professor Attahiru Jega, who had mid-wifed Nigeria’s first transition of power between rival political parties, cast a long shadow.
Nearly a decade later, Yakubu has outlasted two administrations, navigated constitutional reforms, overseen two general elections, and introduced sweeping innovations that have redefined the way Nigerians vote. Yet, like most reforms in Nigeria’s turbulent political landscape, his legacy remains a blend of progress, controversy, and cautious optimism.
This is the story of how Nigeria’s quiet electoral reformer has transformed INEC and the lingering questions about what he leaves behind.
Before stepping into the national spotlight, Professor Yakubu was an academic of repute. Born in Bauchi State in 1962, he studied history and international relations at the University of Sokoto (now Usmanu Danfodiyo University), the University of Oxford, and the University of Cambridge. He was the first Nigerian to earn a Commonwealth Scholarship to Cambridge and later served as Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).
His appointment as INEC Chairman by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 raised eyebrows, especially as it followed the defeat of the long-ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP). But Yakubu quickly asserted his neutrality, famously declaring: “I owe my allegiance to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, not to any political party.”
From the outset, his strategy was clear, modernize Nigeria’s electoral process using technology. He inherited a Commission already experimenting with Smart Card Readers under Jega, but Yakubu pushed the frontier further.
Under his leadership, INEC introduced the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), a device that verifies voters’ identities using both fingerprints and facial recognition. By 2021, BVAS had become mandatory for voter accreditation in all elections.
Another bold initiative was the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV), which enabled real-time upload of results from polling units. The platform was widely praised for boosting transparency and public trust.
“For the first time in Nigeria’s history, citizens could monitor election results live as they were uploaded,” said Samson Itodo, Executive Director of Yiaga Africa. “That’s a massive leap in democratic accountability.”
Yakubu also played a key role in pushing through the Electoral Act 2022, which codified many of the Commission’s innovations. The new law empowered INEC to deploy electronic technologies for accreditation and result transmission, while tightening deadlines for party primaries, improving dispute resolution processes, and introducing stiffer penalties for electoral offences. Yakubu called it “a new legal framework that empowers INEC to better serve the Nigerian electorate.”
Less publicized, but equally significant, was his push to clean up the voter register. Through the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise ahead of the 2023 elections, INEC registered over 12 million new voters, many of them young people. The Commission also removed over two million invalid or duplicate entries using the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS). As of 2023, Nigeria had over 93 million registered voters, with 76 percent collecting their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), a record figure.
Still, the 2023 general elections stretched Yakubu’s reforms to their limits and, for many, exposed their shortcomings. While BVAS largely succeeded in voter accreditation, the IReV platform failed to transmit results in real-time during the presidential election. INEC blamed technical glitches, but opposition parties and observers alleged electoral malpractice.
The European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) reported that the failure to upload results “reduced transparency and undermined public confidence.” Yakubu later apologized, saying: “The Commission regrets the delays and has taken steps to prevent a recurrence.” However, critics argue that INEC was unprepared to scale its digital infrastructure across the country.
To his supporters, Yakubu remains a visionary modernizer attempting to digitize a flawed electoral system in a hostile environment. To his detractors, he heads a Commission still vulnerable to political interference.
Civil society groups, particularly youth-led movements like #FixElectionsNG, have accused INEC of failing to deliver on its promises. Others, including several Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) defend Yakubu as a reformist constrained by deep-seated political forces.
“People often underestimate the kind of sabotage INEC faces behind the scenes,” said a senior INEC official who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Professor Yakubu is not perfect, but he’s trying to leave the place better than he met it.”
Beyond technology, Yakubu has focused on strengthening INEC’s institutional capacity. He improved the training of ad-hoc and permanent staff, decentralized the Commission’s operations across Nigeria’s 36 states, and forged closer partnerships with the National Orientation Agency and civil society groups for voter education.
The Commission also enhanced coordination with security agencies through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), which played a critical role in managing electoral violence and ensuring relatively peaceful off-cycle elections in states like Anambra, Ekiti, and Osun.
Now in his second and final five-year term, Yakubu is steering INEC towards the 2027 general elections, with one eye on legacy and the other on sustainability. He has hinted at exploring electronic voting, a step that would require constitutional amendments and careful navigation of Nigeria’s complex political terrain.
Observers say the next major challenge is not just technological but psychological, building public trust. Regardless of how advanced the system becomes, elections will remain controversial if Nigerians doubt the credibility of the process.
Yakubu appears to understand this. “Technology is only a tool,” he said in a post-election briefing. “The real test is in transparency, integrity, and the willingness of political actors to play by the rules.”
As Nigeria’s longest-serving INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu has led the Commission into the digital era, expanding voter access and implementing reforms in the face of daunting challenges.
Whether history remembers him as the man who modernized Nigeria’s elections or one who promised more than he could deliver may depend on the years leading to 2027.
In a democracy still grappling with voter apathy, elite capture, and institutional distrust, Yakubu’s INEC stands as both a symbol of possibility and a target of public frustration.
One thing, however, is beyond doubt: the story of Nigeria’s electoral evolution in the 21st century cannot be told without Professor Mahmood Yakubu.
