Former Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi has accused the National Electoral Commission under the leadership of Prof. Mahmood Yakubu of being biased.
Amaechi, who made the remarks during an appearance on Arise TV’s Prime Time programme on Tuesday, lamented the challenges opposition parties are facing to get registered.
According to him, the All Progressive Congress wouldn’t have been registered or won in 2015 if Yakubu had been INEC chairman at the time.
He compaired him to former INEC chairman Maurice Iwu who served from 2005 to 2010.
The former Governor of Rivers State also praised former INEC chairman Attahiru Jega for not compromising when they went to register the APC during his tenure.
“Had the current chairman of INEC been in charge in 2015, we wouldn’t have won. That’s an important point. May God bless Jega. Because the ground rules were clear,” Amaechi said.
He noted that Jega left the door opened and after complying with all registration requirements, APC was registered.
But under Yakubu even “if you comply with all requirements, he would still not register”.
“INEC is already biased. With the way eclecteion are now being conducted, the Option A4 was much netter because we saw more transparency.
“You’re sure of what was going on. But when people like Iwu and others and the current one (took over) things got worse.
“You can’t say whether we’re progressing or regressing. There’s a state capture and the electoral institution is being used as a machine.”