1 month ago
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Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged President Bola Tinubu “to urgently disclose details of the enactment and assignment process for the successor to Professor Mahmood Yakubu, whose tenure arsenic the president of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) volition extremity successful November 2025.”
SERAP urged him “to disclose the fig and names of candidates for INEC president and whether the Council of State has been consulted oregon would beryllium consulted successful making the appointment, arsenic constitutionally required.”
SERAP besides urged him to “use the accidental of the assignment of a caller INEC president to reconsider your assignment of astatine slightest 3 alleged members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) arsenic Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) of the INEC and to nominate non-members of a governmental enactment arsenic replacement.”
Professor Mahmood Yakubu volition permission bureau arsenic INEC president successful November, having completed his two-term tenure of 10 years. President Tinubu is expected to name his successor soon, taxable to a Senate confirmation.
In the missive dated 27 September 2025 and signed by SERAP lawman manager Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation said: “The enactment and assignment process for Mr Yakubu’s replacement cannot and should not beryllium ‘a closed shop.’ A transparent and accountable process would service morganatic nationalist interests.”
SERAP said, “There is simply a beardown correlation betwixt transparency successful the enactment and assignment process of INEC president and the quality of the committee to execute its law and statutory duties successful an autarkic and impartial manner.”
According to SERAP, “INEC plays a important relation successful Nigeria’s antiauthoritarian process. Openness and transparency successful the enactment and assignment process would amended nationalist spot successful the commission’s independency and impartiality and citizens’ information successful the electoral process.”
The letter, work successful part: “Transparency successful the process would besides guarantee that competent and impartial radical are appointed and trim the risks of struggle of interest. It would let Nigerians to scrutinise, monitor, and prosecute with the process.”
“In electoral management, cognition matters greatly. It is much important for the enactment and assignment process to beryllium nonsubjective and just and to beryllium seen to beryllium nonsubjective and fair.”
“The mode successful which elections are managed, including however officials managing elections are chosen, would lend importantly to the sustenance of a antiauthoritarian civilization successful the country.”
“A transparent enactment and assignment process would fortify antiauthoritarian and electoral processes. Making the procedural details nationalist would amended nationalist assurance successful the process.”
“Secrecy successful the enactment and assignment process would beryllium inconsistent and incompatible with the Nigerian Constitution and the country’s planetary quality rights obligations. It would undermine the independence, autonomy and accountability of INEC and the close of Nigerians to a escaped and just election.”
“Electoral assemblage is autarkic wherever it has administrative and fiscal autonomy; and offers capable guarantees of its members’ independency and impartiality.”
“Openness and transparency successful the enactment and assignment process for Mr Yakubu’s replacement and the assignment of a competent, autarkic and impartial president would besides assistance to code the cognition of bias which characterized the operations of INEC including during the 2023 wide elections.”
“Section 154(1) of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended] provides that the Chairman of INEC ‘shall beryllium appointed by the President and the assignment shall beryllium taxable to confirmation by the Senate.’”
“Subsection 3 provides that successful exercising his powers to name a idiosyncratic arsenic Chairman of INEC, ‘the President shall consult the Council of State.’”
“Section 153(1) (f) of the Nigerian Constitution provides that ‘There shall beryllium established for the Federation the pursuing bodies, namely – (f) Independent National Electoral Commission.’”
“Under Section 6(4) of the Electoral Act 2022, ‘The assignment of a Resident Electoral Commissioner shall beryllium successful compliance with conception 14 (3) of the Nigerian Constitution.’”
“The nomination, confirmation and assignment of the alleged APC members arsenic RECs for INEC is simply a breach of Section 6(4) of the Electoral Act 2022 and Section 156(1)(...
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