The dust is yet to settle on the agitations for the Senate to reject some of the nominees proposed by President Buhari as Resident Electoral Commissioners. Nineteen persons were forwarded in a July 26th letter to the Senate President.

This is in accordance with the provisions of Section 154 (1) of the 1999 Constitution Nigeria (as amended).

Out of the nineteen names, five are to be reappointed while the remaining fourteen are fresh hands. The five nominees for re-appointment are Ibrahim Abdullahi (Adamawa); Obo Effanga (Cross River); Umar Ibrahim (Taraba); Agboke Olaleke (Ogun); and Samuel Egwu (Kogi).

The 14 fresh nominees are Onyeka Ugochi (Imo); Muhammad Bashir (Sokoto); Ayobami Salami (Oyo); Zango Abdu (Katsina); Queen Elizabeth Agwu (Ebonyi); and Agundu Tersoo (Benue).

Others are: Yomere Oritsemlebi (Delta); Yahaya Ibrahim (Kaduna); Nura Ali (Kano); Agu Uchenna (Enugu); Ahmed Garki (FCT); and Hudu Yunusa (Bauchi); Uzochukwu Chijioke (Anambra); and Mohammed Nura (Yobe).

But there has been a general outcry on the integrity of some of the nominees to hold sensitive positions as electoral umpires. While some are alleged to be card carrying members of a political party, the ruling APC, others are being linked to corruption issues in their past endeavours.

A coalition of civil society organisations (CSOs) under the umbrella of ‘Saving Our Vote’ has called on the Senate to resist the attempt to undermine the institutional independence of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the nomination of partisan and unqualified Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The coalition alleged that out of the 14 nominees, four are card-carrying members of political parties that would be taking part in the 2023 polls.

But addressing a press conference in Abuja, yesterday, a team of INEC consultative partners and accredited elections observer groups and CSOs including Intercontinental Leadership Initiative, Centre for Strategy, Ethics and Value, Northern Patriotic Front, Organisation of Justice for Equity Sustenance have kicked against the nomination of the accused persons.

In a communique read on behalf of the coalition at the end of their roundtable discussion, Mr. Stafford Bisong commended the technological advancements in the electoral process and urged INEC should find solutions in creating a seamless process for voter registration and Permanent Voter Card (PVC) collection, saying the present process was not as effective as required.

It also called for the improvement of the BVAS for subsequent elections, especially the 2023 general elections in its management and operations.

Specifically on the nominees, it stated that “the Nigerian Senate should resist the attempt to undermine the institutional independence of INEC in the nomination of partisan and unqualified Resident Electoral Commissioners by President Muhammadu Buhari.

“In order to regain the confidence of the electorate, INEC should look into the composition, integrity and credibility of their ICT personnel in the department.

“The sudden redeployment of the Director ICT should be reviewed after the 2023 general election to ensure there are no lapses as Nigeria consolidates on the gains so far achieved through the use of the BVAS.”

The coalition further said all electoral stakeholders should advocate for judicial reforms and a review of the powers of the Election Petition Tribunal and Courts in the electoral process.

It pointed out that sanitising the judiciary would largely reduce the number of upturned and re-run elections emanating from the influence of politicians.