The fate of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, is hanging in the balance following the exclusion of his name in President Muhammadu Buhari’s request to the Senate for confirmation of commissioners of the electoral body.

Yakubu’s name was conspicuously missing on the president’s letter to the Senate seeking the confirmation of four persons as national commissioners of the commission.

The letter, dated October 12, 2020, was read during plenary by Senate President Ahmad Lawan on Tuesday.

By explicitly excluding his name, analysts believed that President Buhari had sent a strong signal of likely dropping Yakubu as INEC chairman.