A National Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Amina Zakari, has denied being a blood relation of President Muhammadu Buhari and therefore dismissed calls for her resignation.
Zakari said this in an interview she granted the British Broadcasting Corporation following calls for her resignation by the Peoples Democratic Party and others sequel to her nomination by the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, as the coordinator of the collation centre for the 2019 presidential election.
Zakari, who was appointed as an INEC Commissioner by the PDP-led Administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, was alleged to be President Buhari’s niece, but the Presidency has dismissed such relationship, saying the two were only related by marriage among their family members.
Speaking in an interview with the BBC on Saturday, Zakari, a former acting Chairman of INEC and former special adviser to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, said: “I’m not his (Buhari) niece.
“I am not his cousin and, on this job, I was appointed since 2010 by President Jonathan.
“Prior to that, I was appointed as SA to President Obasanjo and I have done my work conscientiously over the years as a patriotic citizen of Nigeria.
“I don’t think I should be distracted now that elections are coming.
“I will continue doing my work.
“I will continue to serve my country to the best of my ability with the best of intentions.
“President Muhammadu Buhari is my President as everybody else’s President.
“He is not my cousin, he is not my uncle as is being claimed, but I know him as my leader and the leader of the nation.”
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