Attahiru Jega Retires As Amina Bala Zakari Assumes Acting Chair Person Of INEC

President Buhari has appointed Amina Bala Zakari as Acting Chair of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) following the departure of Attahiru Jega, who completed his five-year tenure Tuesday. Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Danladi Kifasi,
conveyed the appointment to Mrs. Zakari in a letter, said the appointment is with immediate effect and would remain in force until the appointment of a substantive Chairman for the election body. Haruna Imrana, the director of Communications for the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, publicly announced the appointment in a three-paragraph statement Tuesday night. Mrs. Zakari is presently a National Electoral Commissioner at INEC.

 According to her profile on INEC website, Mrs. Zakari, a pharmacist, hails from Jigawa State. She attended Queens College Lagos and later graduated with a Bachelor of Science (B.sc) degree in Pharmacy in 1980 from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

With a Second Class Upper degree, she was the best graduating student in her class. After her National Youth Service, she worked as a pharmacist in various hospitals between 1983 and 1996. She then moved into the consultancy field to serve in various capacities as a consultant in health and social services from 1997 up till her appointment as National Commissioner in INEC. She was a Special Assistant to President Olusegun Obasanjo and was deployed to the Federal Capital Territory Administration where she, between 2004 and 2007, served as Secretary of Health, Human Services and Social Development, and later that of Agriculture and Rural Development. Ms. Zakari is a member of the Pharmacist’s Society of Nigeria as well as that of the Nigeria Institute of Management (NIM).