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*Insists she’s president’s niece
*Says INEC is compromised with her as head of INEC collation centre
*Accuses Buhari of massive nepotism
Bayo Akinloye
Insisting that, Amina Zakari, the head of Election Collation Centre for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is a niece of Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, a northern leader, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, has lambasted the Presidency for lying that Zakari is not related to Buhari and accused the president of running a government riddled with massive nepotism.
Zakari, recently appointed as the head of election collation centre for INEC, has been in the eye of the storm regarding her relationship with Buhari.
Mohammed, a northern leader and Second Republic lawmaker, insisted that Zakari is indeed Buhari’s niece, noting no amount of lies from the Presidency could change that fact, as he asserted that he knows the INEC top official’s brothers and her late husband.
“This issue of Amina Zakari being a relative of Buhari was raised by me some two years ago in the context of the massive nepotism in the Buhari government. Amina Zakari is a relation – is a niece – of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari. No matter what they say, I’ll continue saying the same thing from now until the end of time. I’m insisting that Amina Zakari is related to Buhari. She’s his niece. She is a niece of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari. There’s no doubt about it. I raised this issue about two years ago, nobody contested it. For some reason now – I don’t know why – they’re contesting the incontestable fact that Amina Zakari is a relative of Buhari,” he told National Wire.
Insisting on the relationship between Buhari and Zakari, Mohammed stated: “It’s not surprising because anything goes in the administration of Buhari and ruling party. As far as I am concerned – I repeat – Amina Zakari is a niece of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.”
Explaining how Zakari came to be in INEC and occupy a prominent position, the Buhari critic stated: “Amina came to INEC before Buhari became the president. I have to be fair to her. But her appointment was made possible as a result of under-the-table deal him (Buhari) and (then-President Goodluck) Jonathan. Somehow Jonathan reached out to Buhari to nominate somebody among the eight national commissioners of INEC.
“I knew her when she was a younger person. Her father was my teacher. I also know her elder brother who was a friend of my own brother – they attended same schools together. There are other brothers of hers that I know of. I spoke with one of them, say two months ago. As far as I am concerned she is a niece of Buhari, no matter what anybody says.”
According to him, INEC is compromised and the February and March elections in the country will not be fair, free and credible as long as Zakari remains in her current position.
It would be a tragedy to democracy, if her appointment was not reversed and it would be mean that the incumbent administration had programmed the electoral body to favour it.
The former lawmaker added: “With Zakari in her current position I believe that INEC has been compromised ahead of the general election. It’s unfortunate. As part of their imbecilic approach, the Presidency, I am even alarmed by some of the lousy, imbecilic argument, said that there is no formal blood relationship between Buhari and Amina Zakari. Even if they’re not related by blood, they’re related by marriage. So, there’s a relationship. Whichever way you look at it there is a scandal in the appointment of Amina Zakari to serve in such a capacity in a national agency that make or break the nation’s democracy.
“The question, which I raised about two years ago, now is why is this woman so powerful in an organisation in which she is not the chairman? Secondly, she had goofed especially when she was a national electoral officer and national commissioner in charge of the South-west during which elections were conducted in Ondo, Ekiti and Osun states and so many abuese were evident when those elections were conducted. She got herself involved in verbal altercation particularly the candidate of the PDP and other parties.”
The northern leader told National Wire further that the reins of INEC is substantially in the hands of Zakari as she had been made the head of a committee that was in the past under the direction supervision of previous INEC chairmen.
He went ahead to describe the woman said to be the niece of the president of the most populous black nation in the world to be arrogant and somewhat untouchable.
Mohammed, however, admitted that Zakari was brought into INEC before the emergence of Buhari as a democratic president, saying that was made possible by what he described as an under-the-table deal between Buhari and then-President Goodluck Jonathan.
“She had a confrontation with Ayodele Fayose, asking him to apologise to her…. During those elections many wondered, ‘Who’s this woman? Why does she carry herself the way she does as if she’s untouchable?’ Now, we’re in a situation whereby the chicken has come home to roost. I know and everybody believes that this woman has become a law unto herself; she has become untouchable.
“The integrity of this woman, her compromising of INEC and character was brought to the attention of the INEC Chairman, Mahmoud Yakubu. But he said he would be able to control her. I’m not sure he has been able to do that,” Mohammed explained.
