Removing Amina Zakari as Chairman Collation Centre Committee Is A Needless Controversy – INEC

Removing Amina Zakari as Chairman Collation Centre Committee Is A Needless Controversy – INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it has no intention of removing Amina Zakari, a woman the People’s Democratic Party andOby Ezekwesili has said is President Muhammadu Buhari‘s niece, as Chairman of its Collation Centre Committee for the 2019 general elections.

INEC Director for Voter Education Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi made this known during an interview on Channels TV on Friday.

Osaze-Uzzi said that Zakari is not the head of the Collation Committee but the Collation Centre Committee, adding that her committee is “basically in charge of the physical structure” (the International Conference Centre which is the collation centre).

“The chairman of INEC by virtue of the electoral act is the returning officer of the country for the presidential election. It is he who decides the validity of votes and any issues in the election,” he said.

Zakari’s committee is in charge of welfare, Osaze-Uzzi added.

“She was also very involved in negotiating with the ICC management in 2015 for the use of the facility so her duty is to ensure the facility is ready. She has no role whatsoever with the process of collation,” he said.

On whether INEC is considering doing removing her from the position, he said: “Removing her as the chairman of the committee to prepare the facility? That’s not an issue. It’s a needless controversy; not an issue at all.”