*Ohanaeze Ndigbo kicks against appointment
The Presidency said on Friday that President Muhammadu Buhari shares no filial relationship with an official that will head the collation centre for presidential elections in February.
“President Buhari and Commissioner Amina Zakari don’t share a family relationship,” Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity to the President, said in a statement on Friday.
“An inter-marriage occurred in their extended families, so the imputation of blood relationship between the President and the electoral commissioner is a simple lie,” he added.
Zakari was appointed on Thursday to chair the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) committee on collation centre during the 2019 election.
Her appointment has stirred up controversy, especially among the opposition politicians.
The Peoples’ Democratic Party said the appointment would compromise the presidential election, particularly on account of “her blood relationship” with Buhari who is a candidate in the election.
PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, described the appointment as a step towards destroying the future of democracy in Nigeria.
But Mallam Shehu countered, saying the PDP’s statement is “another mendacious press release” with “baseless accusations”.
He pointed out that it “was the PDP government that appointed her in the first place.”
“What is even more curious about all the fuss coming from the PDP is that they, as a ruling party picked Mrs. Zakari, judging her by her own merit and made her an electoral commissioner,” Shehu said.
Zakari was appointed a national commissioner in the INEC representing the entire seven states in the North-West under the Goodluck Jonathan administration in 2011.
Zakari also chaired the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) with responsibility for party system consolidation. She was also the chairman of the INEC Planning Monitoring and Strategy Committee effective November 2014.
Meanwhile, Ohanaeze Ndigbo has told Mrs. Amina Zakari to resign her role in the 2019 general election.
“I call on Amina Zakari to honourably resign. Whatever happens to our democracy tomorrow, they (INEC and Federal Government) should hold themselves responsible,” President-general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Nnia Nwodo said.
Zakari, many believe, is a niece President Buhari.
For Nwodo, Zakari’s appointment was one of many ways the Buhari government aims to cripple the nation’s democracy.
He alleged that it was impossible for INEC and the federal government to ensure the 2019 general elections are free, fair and credible with a relative of the president serving in the capacity of collation officer.
Nwodo said, “It’s like Rangers VS Kano Pillars and Kano Pillars is allowed to nominate a referee. It’s impossible for justice to be done. In a civilized clime, Amina Zakari should have resigned.”
“I expected the APC government has come to power through a free and fair election conducted by another president, they should not destroy the history. Infrastructural upgrade tops sports ministry’s 2019 to do list.”
“With continued membership of Mrs. Zakari in the commission, the corporate personality of INEC is seriously whittled down; making her head of collation committee is worse than anything anybody can imagine,” Nwodo said.