He held office from 1976 to 1979. Michael Ani was a civil servant. In 1966 he had been appointed a Commissioner by Ironsi to assist in reviewing unification of the regional public services.
His 1976 appointment followed his retirement from the Civil Service.
The August 1979 presidential election was won by Alhaji Shehu Shagari, although his victory was disputed since it was based on Ani"s interpretation of the ambiguous electoral decree which said "a candidate must obtain one quarter of votes cast in at least two thirds of the states of the federation".
The functions of his 24-man Federal Electoral Commission established on 15 November 1976 included the conduct of elections, delimitation of constituencies and registration of political parties.
Quotations: "a candidate must obtain one quarter of votes cast in at least two thirds of the states of the federation".
