Buhari Begins Search for Replacement as Five INEC National Commissioners' Tenures End Dec

Stakeholders want president to sign electoral bill into law

President Muhammadu Buhari has set machinery in motion for the replacement of six national commissioners of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) whose tenures expire next month.

This is just as stakeholders have advised the president not to only appoint credible replacements for the retiring Commissioners, but to also sign into law the Electoral Act Amendment Bill transmitted to him earlier this month by the National Assembly.

The six national commissioners representing the six geopolitical zones in the country who are due for retirement by the first week of December, 2021 are Prof. Okechukwu Obinna Ibeanu (South-east); May AgbamucheMbu (South-south); AVM Ahmed Tijani Mu’Azu (North-east); Mohammed Kudu Haruna (North Central); Dr. Adekunle Ladipo Ogunmola (South-west), while Abubakar Ahmed Nahuche (North-west) had resigned in the wake of the last general elections in 2019.

While five of the Commissioners would serve out their terms by early December, the remaining one had resigned his appointment after the 2019 general elections in the country.

President Muhammadu Buhari had during the Eighth Senate with Dr. Bukola Saraki as Senate President sent the names of the six INEC National Commissionernominees to the upper legislative chamber in October, 2016 for approval.

The Senate had in November, 2016, approved the nominees while President Buhari thereafter administered oath of office on the Commissioners in December, 2016, for a five-year tenure which ends next month.

Sources told THISDAY at the weekend that the President had commenced search for the replacement of the retiring commissioners with emphasis being placed on integrity and credibility of those to be nominated.

Stakeholders have also called on President Buhari to ensure that square pegs are put in square holes in the appointment of the new commissioners.

Although many election stakeholders have commended President Buhari for his determination to ensure that the 2023 general elections would be credible, but they are concerned that efforts of the president might amount to nothing if men of proven integrity are not appointed into the commission to replace the retiring ones.

According to a stakeholder who spoke on condition of anonymity, "The president has promised that the 2023 elections will be credible, free, and fair and there is no doubt that he means what he has said.

"You can see that the Edo and Anambra States off-season elections have been applauded by Nigerians and the international community as being credible.

"We hope that the trajectory would continue but everything will depend on the type and quality of people he will appoint as national commissioners to fill the vacant positions.

"The efforts of the president in strengthening the institution was nearly rubbished by the nomination of one of his aide's Ms. Lauretta Onochie, but the situation was redeemed by the National Assembly that rejected the nomination as a result of national outcry.

"The promise by the president to bequeath the country a legacy of transparent, free, fair, and credible election will be dependent on the type of people he appoints into the INEC management board."

President Buhari, who was first elected into office in 2015, would exit on May 29, 2023, after he must have completed two terms of four years each, but there are still fears whether he would live up to his promises of ensuring a credible electoral process.

Another credible source at INEC said, "Despite fears already being expressed by critics of the Buhari government on the possibility of the President providing a free space for credible elections considering that he is also a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), there is an assurance for no cause to worry.

"For doubting Thomases, the President may have proven them wrong judging from the conduct and outcomes of the Edo and Anambra governorship elections.

"In the two elections, the President directed the Independent National Electoral Commission and the security agencies to ensure that the process was hitch-free without interference from any quarter."

The sources further said the recent signing of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) to Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) was a clear testimony to the possibility that President Buhari's biggest and most enduring legacy may be institution-building rather than the physical infrastructures that his aides have belabored.

"Many Nigerians have their different views on the PIA owing to their stakes, but few argue against the potential utility of the PIA and the broad impacts it will have on the Nigerian economy, yet, it took President Buhari's boldness and willingness to take a decisive step rather than vacillating interminably to deliver the PIA which has an extensive effect on the most consequential sector of the Nigerian economy.

"In the same way, Nigerians are expecting that president Buhari will take a similar and decisive courageous step to solidify the emerging success of his tenure in the Electoral arena by bequeathing to the country a legacy of appointment of persons with proven integrity into the independent National Electoral Commission.

"The just concluded off-season election in Anambra state has been applauded by Nigerians as a reflection of the wishes of voters. The Anambra election defied the expectations of most neutral observers, forcing some of Buhari's staunchest critics to congratulate him for insisting on supporting INEC to provide an enabling environment that allowed voters in Anambra State to express their electoral voice.

"However, the gains of the giant stride would vanish if people of proven integrity and impeccable character are not appointed into the management board of the commission to ensure the realization of the President's assurance to conduct the best election in 2023.

"Most Nigerians expect that just like former President Goodluck Jonathan did that earned him a place of pride in the nation's electoral history, President Buhari may want to earn his place in the Electoral pantheon.

"To make this possible, there are two critical matters for the attention of the President as a final task that will cement his efforts and contribution to democratic consolidation in Nigeria.The first is to assent to the reformed Electoral Act Amendment Bill that has the prospect of changing the narrative of Nigerian elections in a positive direction given that INEC innovations are safeguarded and protected statutorily.

"The second critical issue, if not the most important given that INEC innovations are themselves not self-implemented or executory, is the need for the president to appoint individuals of high integrity to replace the six National Electoral Commissioners whose tenure will elapse by the first week of December 2021.”