Claim: Ondo resident electoral commissioner, Oluwatoyin Babalola, is from Ondo state. Verdict: False According to the INEC guidelines, political parties began their campaigns across the state this week ahead of the Ondo state off-cycle governorship election scheduled for November 16th, 2024. At the flag-off of the campaign for the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic
Claim: Ondo resident electoral commissioner, Oluwatoyin Babalola, is from Ondo state.
Verdict: False
According to the INEC guidelines, political parties began their campaigns across the state this week ahead of the Ondo state off-cycle governorship election scheduled for November 16th, 2024.
At the flag-off of the campaign for the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ondo state, Agboola Ajayi, on Tuesday, October 15, 2024, the Oyo State Governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde, claimed that the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mrs. Oluwatoyin Babalola, is an indigene of Ondo State.
Governor Makinde, while speaking to the crowd at the campaign, called the INEC chairman, Professor Mahmood, to remove the REC to create a level playing field for the candidates, using the Edo state as the point of reference ahead of the Ondo poll.
“We as PDP have one thing to say, and this message is for INEC National Chairman Professor Mahmood Yakubu: You must remove the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Ondo State, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Babalola. She is from Ondo State. We will protest until she is removed.”
The statement from the Oyo state governor has gone viral, thereby spiking several reactions on social media. Many have criticised the electoral commission for its lack of fairness and transparency in its process and denounced the electoral commission’s pre-election partiality as well.
@Ogamayorr commented, “INEC is a cesspool of corruption, and every allegation against your fraudulent institution should be perceived as true …”
@Oladapomikky also reacted that “The only institution that failed the innocent Nigerians. You guys won’t escape what will befall you guys,
@ Ekoh4ekoh also responded that There is no need for the Ondo election as the result may have been written in favor of the APC. It is going to be like that of Edo state where about 150 voters were cleared and 350 votes were recorded in favour of the APC. INEC is now a branch of the APC.
Due to the virality of this claim and its implications for credibility and trust-building in the upcoming election, we investigated whether Governor Makinde’s claim is true and what the Electoral Act of 2022 says.
Verification
We checked the claim by Governor Seyi Makinde whether the Ondo state REC is from the state, and we discovered that it is false.
We conducted a keyword search on the state of origin of the Ondo state REC, and we came across a media report by the Punch Newspaper that Mrs. Oluwatoyin Babalola, a lawyer who was the Director of Legal Services at the INEC headquarters in Abuja, is from Ekiti State, and she was appointed as a resident commissioner on December 12, 2023.
We also found a disclaimer written by the Independent National Commission on its official X handle, which explained that Mrs. Oluwatoyin Babalola, the Resident Electoral Commissioner, is not from the state.
The commission has also blamed Engr. Makinde for misinforming the members of the public, a similar trend to what he did before the last governorship election, which was held in the state in 2020. The statement was also corroborated by media reports here, here and here
The statement from INEC reads: “Our attention has been drawn to an allegation made by the Governor of Oyo State, Mr. Seyi Makinde, at his party’s campaign rally held today in Akure in which he called on the INEC Chairman to remove the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Ondo State, Mrs. Toyin Babalola, because “she is from Ondo State.”
For the avoidance of doubt, Mrs. Babalola is not from Ondo State in line with the Commission’s policy not to deploy a REC to his or her State of origin. In 2020, ahead of the last Governorship election in the same State, he accused a senior official of the Commission of working with the Vice Chancellor of a federal university to undermine the election. The allegation was untrue.
We appeal to holders of high public office, such as Governor Makinde, to verify their information before making these serial, unfounded allegations.
The Senate Screening
Mrs Oluwatoyin Babalola was presenting for screening at the Senate as representing Ekiti State. She could not have been cleared by Senators from Ekiti State if they were not convinced she is from Igbara-Odo, in Ekiti South-West.
What the Electoral Act Says on Deployment of REC
Meanwhile, the Electoral Act 2022, Section 6, does not explicitly state whether the Resident Electoral Commissioner can be deployed to their home states, even though the commission has established that its policy forbids that.
Rather, the Electoral Act highlights the responsibility of the RECs and their tenures of service. The Electoral Act, 2022, Section 6 (2) reads “A person appointed to the office of a Resident Electoral Commissioner shall— (a) be answerable to the Commission; and (b) hold office for a term of five years from the date of his or her appointment which may be renewable for another term of five years and no more.
6 (3) The Resident Electoral Commissioner appointed under the Constitution may only be removed by the President, acting on an address supported by a two-thirds majority of the Senate praying that the Resident Electoral Commissioner be so removed for inability to perform the functions of the office, whether arising from infirmity of mind or body or any other cause, or for misconduct.
6 (4) The appointment of a Resident Electoral Commissioner shall comply with Section 14 (3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and section 4 of the Federal Character Commission (Establishment, etc.) Act.
Section 14 (3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria says, “The composition of the government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few states or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that government or any of its agencies.”
Conclusion
Our findings revealed that Governor Seyi Makinde’s claim that Mrs Oluwatoyin Babalola, the Ondo state resident electoral commissioner, is from Ondo state is false, as she is from Ekiti State.
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