CSO Group Urges Lawmakers to Reject Three REC Nominees over Alleged Partisanship

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

The Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room (Situation Room) has asked the Senate Committee on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to reject the nomination of Prof. Mohammed Lawal Bashir, Ugochi Pauline Onyeka and Queen Elizabeth Agu as Resident Electoral Commissioners (REC) on grounds of partisanship.

According to the Situation Room, the nominees sent by President Muhammadu Buhari to the legislature for approval have questionable credentials regarding their ability to be non-partisan.

A statement signed by the Convener of the Situation Room coalition, Ene Obi, alleged that Bashir was openly affiliated with and contested in the governorship primaries of a political party in Sokoto State in the 2015 general elections.

It also raised concerns about the nominations of Onyeka from Imo State and Agu from Ebonyi State.

It stated that Onyeka was a former staff of INEC who was allegedly redeployed on account of her open association with political parties, while Agu was alleged to be a member of a political party and held a political appointment as an Acting Chief of Staff to Governor David Umahi up until June 2021.

The Situation Room said that Section 156(1) of the Nigerian 1999 Constitution, as amended, makes it mandatory that an appointee at INEC shall not be a member of a Political Party.

Item F, paragraph 14 of the third schedule to the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria forbids a partisan person as a member of INEC – a body charged under the Constitution to independently conduct free and fair elections.

“President Muhammadu Buhari’s nomination of people who are clearly partisan into INEC amounts to a major attempt at undermining efforts to improve credibility of the electoral body, and contradicts the President’s public claim that he will bequeath a better electoral process to Nigeria. We wish to remind President Buhari that he was a beneficiary of a fair and credible electoral process in 2015.

“Appointing a person who is a member of a political party into INEC will affect the independence of the electoral body and citizens’ confidence in the electoral process.

“Consequently, Situation Room has called on the Senate Committee on INEC to whom the nomination was referred to by the Senate Plenary to recommend rejection of the three nominees on grounds of partisanship and likelihood of bias in carrying out the duties of a REC,” it said.

The Situation Room urged the Senate to rise up and insist on a non-partisan and independent membership for INEC “particularly at this critical time”.