Mrs. May Agbamuche-Mbu, a seasoned legal practitioner and long-serving National Commissioner at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has assumed office as the Acting Chairman of the Commission following the expiration of Professor Mahmood Yakubu’s tenure.
Agbamuche-Mbu, who has served on the INEC board since 2016, steps into the leadership role as the longest-serving National Commissioner and current head of the Commission’s Legal Services, Clearance and Complaints Committee.
A distinguished lawyer with over three decades of professional experience, Agbamuche-Mbu was born in Kano State but hails from Delta State.
She obtained her Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) in 1984 and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1985.
She later earned a Master’s degree in Commercial and Corporate Law from Queen Mary University of London and qualified as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales.
Prior to joining INEC, she was the Managing Partner at Norfolk Partners, a Lagos-based law firm.
Her public service experience includes membership in the Presidential Projects Assessment Committee (PPAC) between 2010 and 2011, where she helped evaluate key federal infrastructure projects and participation in the 2016 Ministerial Committee on the Solid Minerals Sector Roadmap.
She is a certified arbitrator and member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK and Nigeria), with a background in legal journalism, having edited THISDAY LAWYER and authored the “Legal Eagle” column between 2014 and 2016.
Her appointment as acting chairman comes at a crucial time for Nigeria’s electoral system, as INEC prepares for upcoming off-cycle elections and ongoing electoral reforms.
Agbamuche-Mbu will lead the commission in an acting capacity until President Bola Tinubu nominates a substantive chairman for confirmation by the Senate.
Stakeholders say her deep legal expertise and institutional experience could provide stability and continuity during the transition period.
