Mahmood: Ejiofor’s Farewell To Nigeria’s Most ‘Innovative’ Custodian Of Chaos

By Chukwudi Ebele

Human Rights Lawyer and Public Analyst Sir Ifeanyichukwu Ejiofor, in his article titled “THE MAHMOOD YEARS: WHEN DEMOCRACY CAUGHT A COLD: A Farewell to Nigeria’s Most ‘Innovative’ Custodian of Chaos’,” summarises the life and times of the immediate past Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, and the ordeals of Nigerian citizens and Nigerian democracy endured during his tenure.

According to Ejiofor, October 7, 2025, marked the official end of an era, or more precisely, the expiry of a prolonged national nightmare. Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the twice-appointed Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), finally stepped down after a decade of presiding over Nigeria’s most “independent” institution—independent, that is, of truth, trust, and transparency.

“As he exited the stage, one could almost hear a collective sigh of relief sweep across the land, from the dusty lanes of Kaura Namoda to the creeks of Nembe, the sound of a weary nation whispering, ‘Thank God it’s over.’ For many, Mahmood’s departure felt less like a retirement and more like an answered prayer, long overdue and mercifully granted by Providence.

“Professor Mahmood Yakubu arrived at INEC cloaked in the aura of an academic reformer—urbane, methodical, and promising to sanitise an electoral system already drowning in infamy. Yet, like reformers before him, he soon discovered that in Nigeria, integrity is not an institutional requirement; it is an optional accessory, often forgotten at home during elections.

“Under his watch, the ballot box, once a sacred emblem of democracy, became an experimental theatre of confusion. Elections turned from contests of choice into exercises in mathematical innovation. In his INEC, results routinely defied arithmetic, physics, and, occasionally, divine logic.

“Mahmood may well be remembered as the founder of a new political science: Electoral Alchemy, the mysterious conversion of defeat into victory through the combined forces of ‘glitches,’ ‘network failures,’ and ‘technical hitches.’

“The 2023 general election was meant to be his magnum opus, the one that would immortalise transparency. BVAS was unveiled, IReV glorified, and Nigerians were told to ‘relax and trust the process.’

“Then came the night of February 25, 2023. The nation waited and waited for real-time transmission of results. The servers blinked, then went blind. The portal coughed, then flatlined. What followed was not democracy, but digital necromancy.

“A country of over 200 million watched helplessly as faith in democracy eroded endlessly, until the network returned just in time to confirm prearranged victors.

“Under Mahmood, Nigeria’s elections became a tragicomedy, full of suspense, glitches, and predictable endings. The irony was poetic: the more Nigerians voted, the less their votes seemed to matter.

“Observers complained. Courts overflowed. Petitions flew like confetti. Yet the umpire remained serenely detached, citing constitutional sections while Rome burned. Even when reprimanded for disobedience, INEC responded with bureaucratic indifference wrapped in academic serenity.

“Defenders called him a victim of Nigeria’s political culture. Perhaps. But history is rarely gentle with those who supervise deceit, however politely they do it. Mahmood’s INEC evolved into a predictable contraption, delivering predetermined outcomes with mathematical precision and moral elasticity.

“No INEC chairman began with so much goodwill and squandered it so completely. Mahmood Yakubu will be remembered not for the reforms he promised, but for the ruins they produced.

“He transformed hopeful citizens into hardened cynics. Under him, elections became spiritual rituals, Nigerians fasting, praying, and prophesying about results already written in invisible ink.

“He leaves behind an INEC whose name provokes sighs, not confidence; whose logo inspires memes, not trust—a custodian of what many call ‘the most sophisticated rigging ever done in slow motion.’

“If legacies were laughter, Mahmood Yakubu’s would echo for generations.

“Yes, he introduced technology, but technology without integrity is a loaded gun in a blind umpire’s hand. Yes, he faced pressure and logistical nightmares, but leadership is measured by courage, not excuses.

“History’s verdict will likely read: He came, he promised, he disappointed, spectacularly.

“As Professor Mahmood Yakubu takes his final bow, Nigeria takes stock. The electoral body he leaves behind is bruised, battered, and barely breathing. The people’s trust lies shattered beneath the weight of his ‘glitches.’

“Somewhere, perhaps in quiet retirement, Mahmood may be drafting his memoir: ‘Ten Years of Transparency: My Personal Journey Through Nigeria’s Most Rigged Elections.’

“A FINAL PRAYER: May Yakubu never happen to Nigeria again. May our ballots never again be baptised in deceit. May INEC one day regain its lost innocence.

“Until then, Nigerians will continue to vote in hope and count in disbelief,” said Ejiofor.