CLOSE-UP: This is Ahmad Mu’azu, the man in charge of INEC logistics
There
has been a lot of confusion on who actually is in charge of the
logistics at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) since
the chaos that resulted in the rescheduling of the general election.
Initially,
the social media was buzzing with the news that it was Amina Zakari,
the national commissioner who was in the news for being related to
President Muhammadu Buhari by marriage. Some commented that she
sabotaged the election because Buhari was going to lose. However, Zakari
left the role in October 2018 when she was redeployed to oversee the
health and welfare committee.
Not long after the Zakari rumour
died down, word started going round that Okechukwu Ibeanu, a professor
of political science and national commissioner in charge of electoral
operations and logistics, was the man responsible for the chaos. It was
implied that he was working for Atiku Abubakar, Buhari’s main
challenger.
Meanwhile, there is yet another committee on
logistics for the elections. Headed by Ahmad Tijani Mu’azu, a retired
air vice marshal, the ad hoc committee is made up of three national
commissioners and representatives from several government agencies,
notably customs, immigration, road safety commission,police and armed
forces.
What is the difference between the committee
headed by Ibeanu and that of Mu’azu — since both deal with logistics?
TheCable findings show that the one led by Ibeanu is a standing
committee, which is “internal”. It deals with providing ballot papers,
ballot boxes and other materials for the elections.
The ad hoc
committee headed by Mu’azu, which is “external”, is specifically for the
elections and the brief is to receive materials at the airports and
send them to the different locations across the country. It is
“external” because it is composed mainly of non-INEC members.
In
November 2018 when Yakubu announced that Zakari would head the ad hoc
committee on collation centre, all eyes were on her and her relationship
with Buhari. On the same day, however, Mu’azu was announced as the
chairman of the ad hoc committee on logistics. This went virtually
unnoticed. Yet, it was perhaps the most important of the committees
inaugurated on January 3, 2019.
Mu’azu (first from right) at his swearing-in as INEC commissioner in 2016
Who, then, is Ahmad Tijani Mu’azu?
According
to his profile on the INEC website, he was born on September 6, 1957 in
Gombe state. He schooled in Gombe, Kaduna and Maiduguri between 1964
and 1975.
In June 1976, he joined the Nigerian air force as a
potential pilot and was commissioned pilot officer into air traffic
control specialty in 1979.
He holds both civil and military
licences with ratings in aerodrome, approach control and approach radar
control positions. He was deployed to air traffic control duties for 12
years, from 1979 to 1991, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport,
Lagos, and Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano.
Mu’azu
had his basic military training at the Nigerian Defence Academy from
June to December 1979. He did his junior command and staff course at the
Armed Forces Command and Staff College (AFCSC) Jaji in 1988. He
attended the senior command and staff course at Ghana Armed Forces Staff
College (GAFSC) Teshie, Accra, between 1991 and 1992. He was said to
have finished well above average “with a strong recommendation for
appointment as a directing staff”.
He was a member of National
War College (NEC), Course 12 at the then National War College (now
National Defence College), Abuja, from 2003 to 2004 “and graduated,
again, with a strong recommendation to return to the college as a
directing staff”, according to the profile.
He earned an MSc in strategic studies from the University of Ibadan in 2005.
Mu’azu rose to the professional rank of air vice marshal in 2007 and retired in 2013, after 34 years of service.
TheCable
understands that he had been helping INEC with flight issues in the
past and this might have influenced the decision to saddle him with the
responsibility for logistics for the elections.
“None of the
three INEC commissioners in the ad hoc committee had any experience of
organising general election in Nigeria, so the chaos was coming,” an
INEC official told TheCable.
Source:- Thecableng
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