Don’t Send Wrong Signal To Nigerians – INEC Ex-Chairman to President Tinubu
….Drop Resident Commissioners Accused Of Being APC Supporters…
The said resident commissioners were nominated by President Bola Tinubu, and their appointments were confirmed by the Senate. However, the appointment was beset by controversy as some of the new appointees were said to be members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Aformer Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Attahiru Jega, has requested an immediate review of the appointments of 10 Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) of the commission, one month after their confirmation.
The said resident commissioners were nominated by President Bola Tinubu, and their appointments were confirmed by the Senate. However, the appointment was beset by controversy as some of the new appointees were said to be members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
However, due to concerns about their political affiliations, President Tinubu has been asked by Professor Jega, who oversaw the 2015 elections, to review the appointments.
Speaking on Channels TV programme on Monday evening, Jega said, “I think there is no doubt that if the President were listening, my advice would be to immediately review the appointment of the Resident Electoral Commissioners that was passed by the Senate recently.
“It’s very, very important because clearly, not only does it send a wrong signal about the government’s intention to improve the integrity of elections, it also suggests, you know, that there is indifference with regards to protecting the independence and the impartiality of the election management body.”
Jega believed the dust raised by the nomination and confirmation of the RECs may be an indication that Tinubu was not furnished with the necessary details of the nominees.
“I would want to believe that Mr President was either misinformed or is not really furnished with all the necessary details with regards to these appointments,” Jega said on the show.
Critics have criticised the Senate for confirming some of the RECs, and Jega claims that moving forward, the lawmakers must be more involved in selecting INEC chief executives.
“Secondly, moving into the future, the Senate itself needs to be up and doing. The normal thing when these kinds of recommendations are made is to send it to the committee which would have the time to do a thorough review of the details of all the people that are appointed before it comes to plenary, you know.
“But in this particular case, from everything we have heard or read, it appears that the matter did not go to committee. It just went to the floor of the Senate and they rushed the approval,” Jega added.
