President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, to embark on leave ahead of the expiration of his tenure.
Sources say the move comes in response to what they described as Mahmood’s “last-minute betrayal” of the All Progressives Congress government that appointed him.
Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma reportedly met with President Tinubu shortly after the president returned from a 12-day working vacation, alleging that Mahmood’s efforts to register new political parties at the end of his tenure had disrupted Tinubu’s preparations for a second term. 
The governor also claimed that Mahmood was covertly backing a candidate in the Imo State governorship election.
Following this briefing, Tinubu reportedly requested that Mahmood suspend all official duties and proceed on terminal leave.
The decision has thrown the commission’s schedule into disarray, leading to the abrupt cancellation of Mahmood’s final quarterly consultative meeting with political parties, as well as a planned session with civil society organisations.
Tinubu is now expected to submit the name of a new INEC Chairman to the National Assembly in the coming days.
Mahmood was appointed to office by then-President Muhammadu Buhari on October 21, 2015, succeeding acting chairperson, Amina Zakari.
In March, SaharaReporters reported that a prominent politician from Oghara, Delta State, was actively pushing for a compromised figure to become the next INEC chairman, setting the stage for widespread electoral fraud.
Sources close to the matter implicated former Delta State Governor James Ibori, a convicted ex-governor who returned to Nigeria after serving a sentence in the United Kingdom for looting public funds.
It was learnt that Ibori was maneuvering to position his associate and kinsman, Moses Ogbe, as the next INEC Chairman to ensure direct control over the rigging of the 2027 elections.
Ibori’s influence in the current political landscape remains significant. His past political manipulations include the appointment of his in-law, Chinedu Ebie, as Chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Governing Board, and his daughter, Erhiatake Ibori-Suenu, as Chairperson of the House Committee on NDDC.
Moses Ogbe is a former Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) under Prof. Maurice Iwu’s tenure.
