Some civil society organizations working to promote credible elections in Nigeria have raised concerns over the tenure of 10 Resident Electoral Commissioners, RECs of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, whose tenures are about to end, calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately appoint their replacements.
The CSOs, nine in all, noted that an “effective electoral administration is contingent on the sufficiency of competent, and professional staff with the legal power to exercise regulatory authority over electoral processes.
“An understaffed INEC at the state level is incapable of delivering credible, transparent, inclusive and conclusive elections at all levels.”
They, therefore, charged President Buhari “to prioritise exercising his constitutional power to appoint new RECs into INEC to avail the commission with the requisite manpower, and leadership it requires to organise credible elections in 2023.”
Failure to do so, they warned, could “undermine the preparations for the general elections as well as diminish public confidence in the electoral process.
“It is critical for the legitimacy and success of the 2023 general election that the appointment of the RECs is concluded expeditiously in a transparent, non-partisan and professional manner. To this end, the Civil Society community makes the following call;
“That President Muhammadu Buhari should as a matter of urgency, expedite the nomination of individuals with unquestionable integrity, professional competence, experience, and political neutrality as INEC Resident Electoral Commissioners.”
The statement noted that the following states saw their RECs ending their tenures on July 6 2022; Anambra, Enugu, Rivers, Imo, Abia, Oyo, Kogi, Bauchi, Gombe, and Taraba state.
Eight other RECs from Kaduna, Kano, Adamawa, Katsina, Osun, Niger, Akwa-Ibom, and Sokoto are due to complete their term on 11th August 2022. Cumulatively, INEC offices in eighteen states will witness leadership transition 215 days (7 months) to the 2023 general election.
The statement was signed by Yiaga Africa; International Press Centre; Nigerian Women’s Trust Fund; Centre of Media and Society; The Albino Foundation.
Others are Elect Her; The Kukah Centre; Partners for Electoral Reform, and Inclusive Friends Association.
