The INEC Ad Hoc Logistics Committee (Which excluded INEC Director of Logistics) That Paralyzed Nigeria

Now, we can understand why INEC collapsed on logistics: the man in charge of logistics (Okechukwu Ibeanu) was cut-out by INEC Chairman when he formed an ad hoc logistics committee specifically for the election, Premium Times reports. Simply, the core leadership of INEC’s logistics department was not part of the election logistics. It is shameful that INEC could have an ad hoc committee for a general election without the Director of its logistics department as a member.

Mr Ibeanu, who officially heads the INEC logistics department, was not made a member of the committee.

“Curiously, close to the election, INEC chair created an ad hoc committee on logistics for the 2019 elections which reported directly to him. Prof Ibeanu is not a member of that committee,” said our source, an INEC insider.

Another source close the INEC leadership said such committee was unprecedented in INEC’s history.

“There was nothing like that under Jega (Attahiru, immediate past INEC chairman). Nobody knows why Professor Yakubu decided to duplicate functions and hand such a crucial task (logistics) to a committee when there is a department to handle it,” the source said.

The 15-member advisory committee is headed by another national commissioner, Ahmed Mu’azu, a retired Air Vice Marshall.

Two other national commissioners of INEC – Abubakar Nahuche and Mohammed Haruna – are also members of the committee.

Handing it over to Ahmed Mu’azu, a retired Air Vice Marshall and INEC national commissioner, when Nigeria has invested on Mr. Ibeanu for years shows INEC Chairman lacks honor. For the man to think an ad hoc committee is better than a permanent department explains the paralysis he has put the nation.

Apparently, he was troubled that all the key directors on technology, logistics and voter education are from the southeast/south-south and an ad hoc committee would have been a way to cut them out! That is a huge mistake and very offensive if Nigeria wants to thrive on professionalism and excellence.

We need to get over these petty tribal stuffs and make Nigeria fly. I cannot just comprehend why a national electoral umpire for a general election will think a man whose job to run logistics cannot even be part of the very activity (yes, the election) everyone in INEC was assembled to perform. Mr. President, probe INEC urgently because this is looking like a pile of mess.

Mr Ibeanu, a professor of political science, was asked to report at the SSS office by 2:00 p.m., multiple sources close to INEC told this paper.

Apart from Mr Ibeanu, others asked to appear before the SSS include Chidi Nwafor, the Director of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Ken Ukeagu; Osaze Uzzi, the Director of Voter Education and Publicity and Bimbo Oladunjoye, the Assistant Director of ICT.

Update: SSS has called off the summons

PREMIUM TIMES reported how the SSS summoned the head of INEC’s operations and logistics department, Okechukwu Ibeanu, and four other officials of the agency.

The others asked to appear before the SSS include Chidi Nwafor, the Director of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Ken Ukeagu; Osaze Uzzi, the Director of Voter Education and Publicity and Bimbo Oladunjoye, the Assistant Director of ICT.

They each received a phone call from the SSS on Monday who asked them to report at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday.

They were also told that their summon had been discussed with the INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, sources briefed by the affected officials told PREMIUM TIMES.

However, after our report and that of other media on Tuesday morning, Mr Ibeanu received another call from the SSS who told him the invitation had been cancelled. The other officials also received similar calls.

The SSS has refused to state publicly why it summoned the electoral officials, and why members of an ad-hoc committee set up by Mr Yakubu to handle logistics by INEC were not summoned.

Nigeria’s INEC Votes Incompetence

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