Nigeria’s opposition has objected to the appointment of
President Muhammadu Buhari’s niece to the election commission ahead of
presidential elections in February, when he will seek a second term.
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP)
claimed the appointment Thursday of Amina Zakari to the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) was an attempt to rig the vote in
Buhari’s favour.
Zakari, who has worked at INEC in other roles, will head a branch of the commission involved in collating the election results.
The
PDP said in a statement: “for us to have a peaceful election, Mrs Amina
Zakari should not be seen anywhere near any of the 2019 election
processes, not to talk of being involved in the collation of
presidential (vote) results.”
Buhari spokesman Garba Shehu dismissed the
claim as baseless. The president was not a blood relation of Zakari, as
the PDP alleged, but was related to her by marriage only, Shehu
insisted.
“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.
INEC chairman Mahmood Yakubu also dismissed the opposition allegations, insisting the buck stops with him.
“I am absolutely responsible for the coordination of the secretariat for the collation of results,” he said.
“But somebody has to prepare the venue for the
conduct of the election, the internet service that we have to provide,
accreditation of international observers and the media,” he added.