Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has made a key appointment, naming a new head of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Attahiru Jega, the Chairman of the Commission whose role in the elections has been widely praised, retired on 30 June along with six other commissioners whose tenure also came to an end. But in a move that critics say shows the high level of ‘indecisiveness’ that has characterised the first 30 days of the Muhammadu Buhari presidency, the president waited until the outgoing chairman had publicly handed over his chair to another INEC commissioner, Mohammed Wali, before later reversing that decision and appointing Amina Bala Zakari as acting chairperson of the commission instead.

In handing over to Wali, Jega explained that Wali’s tenure does not expire until August, and so giving Wali the position allowed the government more time to make a substantive appointment. It should be noted however, that past INEC chairpersons have always come from outside the commission.

Zakari’s tenure, instead, only expires at the end of July. Having been appointed by Buhari, she will likely remain in her position until the president sends her name to the National Assembly for confirmation as the permanent chair of the commission, or someone else is appointed.

The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has already criticised her appointment, claiming that she is known to be a close friend of the president and of a governor in north-west Nigeria. Although the PDP did not mention the name of the governor in question, they gave enough hints to assume that they are referring to Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, the governor of Kaduna State. El-Rufai previously served as minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) under the PDP national government until 2007 and is known to be a close confidant of President Buhari.

The PDP’s complaint with the appointment of Amina Zakari is that she worked with Afri-Projects Consortium, a company which was closely associated with the president when he was the chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF). She was also appointed to head agencies in Abuja when El-Rufai was the minister of the FCT. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the PDP has already accused the new INEC chair of working together with the APC to rig the next gubernatorial elections in Bayelsa and Kogi states, both of which will be conducted later this year. Both states are currently controlled by the PDP and the party which has lost so much of its power already this year will be keen on retaining them.

The 2015 elections demonstrated how important an independent-minded INEC chairperson is to the continued development of Nigeria’s democracy. Genuine concerns may be raised if INEC is led by someone close to the president or his entourage, thus affecting the commission’s credibility.