President Bola Tinubu has nominated six officials to fill vacancies at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), forwarding the names to the Senate for confirmation.
The national commissioner nominees are Professor Mustapha Aliu for the North-West; Bashir Muhammed Umar for the North-Central; Oluwatoyin Babalola for the South-West; and Dr Bala Bila for the North-East, who has been nominated for reappointment.
Babalola currently serves as the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Osun State, where she has overseen recent electoral activities.
The two resident electoral commissioner nominees are Dr Samuel Akinjide Akinleye for Ekiti State and Zahradden Basiru Sanusi for Jigawa State.
All the nominations require Senate confirmation. The Presidency says the appointments are intended to fill vacancies arising from expiring tenures at the commission.
The nominations come three months before the presidential election and while INEC is managing disputes over candidate eligibility across several parties.
The immediate questions raised by observers concern the nominees' qualifications, the institutional independence of the commission and the transparency of the confirmation process. No evidence has been presented establishing that the nominations are intended to favour any political party, although their timing makes legislative scrutiny particularly important.
Key dates to watch include the Senate's consideration of the nominees, INEC's October 24 deadline for parties to report candidates they believe were wrongly omitted from the ballot, and the commencement of the APC's nationwide campaign, scheduled to open in Kaduna on the same date.
Source: Channels Television / The PUNCH
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