Yakubu had postponed the elections, previously scheduled for February 16, for an extra week due to logistical problems and claims of attempted sabotage.
The postponement was not well received by Nigerians, with some calling for Yakubu's resignation. Amid the wave of protests, the opposition has also alleged that President Buhari was planning to remove Yakubu and install someone else that'll do his bidding.
However, the president's Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, told The Nation that he has no such plans, calling the reports "baseless and false".
"There is nothing like that. Whoever is saying the President is removing INEC chairman is just displaying his illiteracy. Let him go and read the constitution.
"You need a resolution by two-thirds majority of the Senate for any such action," he said.
The national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Uche Secondus, had alleged that Buhari was planning to remove Yakubu so as to cling to power by whatever manipulation required.
However, a presidency source told The Nation that the allegations are only designed to create electoral anarchy and disrupt all preparations for the poll and create unrest nationwide.
The Presidential and National Assembly elections that were supposed to take place on February 16 will now take place on February 23, while the Governorship and State House of Assembly elections initially scheduled for March 2 have been moved to March 9.