Of the controversies and flip-flops that have trailed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s numerous appointments since he assumed office barely five months ago, possibly the most dangerous and consequential to Nigeria’s democracy was the recent nomination and then confirmation by the Senate of at least two known political figures as Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
These appointments violate and negate the principles of fairness and impartiality, alongside extant laws that seek to protect the sanctity of Nigeria’s elections and democracy, such as the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act.
It is particularly disturbing that the Senate had, starting last Thursday, gone ahead with the confirmation of nominees such as Mr Etekamba Umoren (Akwa Ibom State) and Mr Isah Ehimeakne (Edo State) despite PREMIUM TIMES’ unveiling of these persons as partisans and warning about the risks that appointing them as RECs…