By Nchetachi Chukwuajah
May Agbamuche-Mbu has taken over from Professor Mahmood Yakubu as the Acting Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Agbamuche-Mbu, the oldest serving National Commissioner of the electoral body, took over the saddle on Tuesday, October 7, at the ongoing stakeholders’ meeting with Resident Electoral
Commissioners at the INEC headquarters in Abuja.
Her appointment in acting capacity followed a consensus of the National Commissioners pending the confirmation of a substantive head, as Professor Mahmoud Yakubu proceeds on a terminal leave.
With the formal handing-over, Agbamuche-Mbu will continue her commitment to public service, transparency, and institutional credibility in Nigeria’s democratic process.
INEC’s Acting Chairman is a native of Delta State, but was born and raised in Kano State, where she attended the St. Louis Secondary School.
She then proceeded to study Law at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) Ile-Ife, bagging a degree in Law in 1984.
Agbamuche-Mbu was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1985 and further qualified as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales.
She holds an LLM in Commercial and Corporate Law from Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London, and completed two postgraduate degrees in International Dispute
Resolution and International Business Law.
Agbamuche-Mbu is a seasoned legal practitioner with over 30 years of experience and has worked with diverse clients across both the public and private sectors in Nigeria and abroad.
The INEC’s Acting Chairman is an expert in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK), Nigeria Branch, where she once served as
Secretary.
From 2010 to 2011, she was the sole solicitor on the Presidential Projects Assessment Committee (PPAC), evaluating major unfinished public projects nationwide.
Later, in 2016, she joined the Ministerial Committee that drafted the Road Map for Nigeria’s Solid Minerals Sector.
She was the Managing Partner of Norfolk Partners, Lagos, her law firm, providing corporate legal services and mentorship before joining INEC.
Agbamuche-Mbu served as the Editor of THISDAY LAWYER, the legal pullout of ThisDay Newspaper and is also the author of over 120 legal editorials in her column, “LEGAL EAGLE,” from 2014 to 2016.
