Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr. Femi Falana, has strongly criticized the appointment of partisan politicians as Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) and called on President Bola Tinubu to honor his commitment to ensuring a credible electoral process.
Speaking on a morning program on Channels Television, Falana urged stakeholders to consider legal challenges against the four newly appointed RECs who, he claimed, are card-carrying members of two different political parties.
He pointed out that since 1999, there has been a troubling trend of the ruling party attempting to populate the electoral body with party loyalists and sympathizers, leading to a constitutional amendment. Falana highlighted that both the ruling party and civil society organizations (CSOs) opposed the appointment of members from the ruling party at different times.
He noted that the Uwais panel had recommended the appointment of chairpersons, national commissioners, and RECs of INEC through a public application process, with the National Judicial Council (NJC) shortlisting the top three candidates for submission to the Senate via the Council of State. However, this recommendation was not adopted by both the PDP and the APC.
In terms of the most recent appointments, Falana asserted that there are concerns about the eligibility of four out of the ten newly appointed RECs, who were confirmed by the Senate. Three of them are members of the APC, while the fourth belongs to the PDP. He cited the example of the PDP in Akwa Ibom challenging the appointment of the REC from that state and called on other stakeholders to initiate legal action to challenge the remaining three appointments. He emphasized that an illegal appointment cannot be legitimized through legislative confirmation.
Falana stressed the need for credible elections in 2027 and called on President Tinubu to fulfill his promise to promote such elections. He highlighted the historical efforts of various Nigerian regimes to set up electoral reform committees and urged for the implementation of the recommendations, especially the need for independent umpires, emphasizing that REC and national commissioner positions should not be held by card-carrying members or loyalists of political parties.
While the Senate had confirmed the appointments of the RECs, Falana maintained that the matter could still be addressed through legal means. He emphasized, “The Senate has cleared them, but it is not over yet.”