By Joy Anigbogu

Copyright independent

…Tinubu Advised On Qualities For Head Of Electoral Umpire

LAGOS – As Nigerians look forward to the emergence of the successor of the out-going Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, in November, hav-ing completed his record two-term ten-ure of 10 years, President Bola Tinubu and the National Assembly have been urged to ensure that someone of in-tegrity emerges as the commission’s new chairman.

They said the kind of INEC chair-man the president appoints will determine the credibility or otherwise of the 2027 general elections.

Prof. Yakubu was appointed by former President Muham-madu Buhari on October 21, 2015, even though his prede-cessor, Prof. Attahiru Jega, left office on June 30, 2015. He was reappointed by Buhari on October 27, 2020, making him the longest-serving INEC chair-man in Nigeria’s history.

Recall that Section 154 (1) of the 1999 constitution (as amended) provides that “the appointment of the chairman and members of the Indepen-dent National Electoral Com-mission (INEC) shall be made by the president and shall be subject to confirmation by the Senate.”

Liborous Oshoma, a lawyer and public affairs commenta-tor, told Daily Independent that even though the president has been empowered by the con-stitution to appoint the INEC chairman, the person must be a man of integrity, someone who is not partisan in line with the constitutional requirements.

He also stated that the Na-tional Assembly must be alive to its responsibility and not just clear anybody nominated by the president.

He said, “The template is already enshrined in the con-stitution. The president should ensure that a person who is appointed has the requisite knowledge and character.

“When the person gets there we’ll certainly know that the person won’t be partisan, won’t hold allegiance to any political party, won’t hold allegiance to the president and will only hold allegiance to the Nigerian peo-ple and how to conduct a credi-ble election.”

Speaking further, he said, “Of course he must be knowl-edgeable. He mustn’t necessar-ily be a professor or a retired judge but he must be somebody who is knowledgeable in the laws, in the electoral process-es, in electoral laws, who at the tip of his fingers can refer to the processes across the other jurisdictions.

“He shouldn’t support any political candidate or political party in Nigeria. Someone who is amenable to innovation, processes, technology, as being done in other jurisdictions, that way Nigerians can say they look forward to credible elections. Otherwise Nigeri-ans will just put their hands in the air in submission, believing that nothing good will come out from the electoral process.”

On his part, a lawyer and president, Association for Good Governance, Justice Uhuegbu, noted that in the process of appointment, the president should act as a demo-crat when appointing the new chairman, even though the constitution has empowered him to do so.

The national convener, Youth Arise Vanguard, said, “I’ve always advocated that the office of the INEC chairman should be made open so that people can bridge through the National Assembly. And who-ever that succeeds will now get assent by the president, that notwithstanding, the president and the National Assembly must do the needful.

“Not for the president hav-ing the prerogative of appoint-ing and sending to the National Assembly for ratification, be-cause of the mantra of he who pays the piper, calls the tune. And that’s what we’re suffer-ing in Nigeria. The National Assembly should also ensure that it performs its duty of en-suring that the person it’ll clear is a man of integrity.

“For the fact that the presi-dent is still the sole person ap-pointing the INEC chairman in Nigeria, the person may have a tendency to be biased.

“Except if somebody who has the mind to live above board, who has the super mind, who has the courage or who is courageous to do the needful, and to know that his duty there, he owes his duty to Nigerians and not to the person who ap-pointed him or her. We should be looking for a person who’ll be like Humphrey Nwosu of blessed memory. Nwosu wasn’t 100% perfect, but at least his antecedents and what he did in the general elections during the time of Abiola, had a foot-print in Nigeria and in Africa as a whole.

“So unfortunately now, because of money, and the in-fluence the INEC chairman carries, it might be a mission almost impossible to get some-body who will live above board and know that he owes alle-giance to Nigerians, and not to the president, or not to anybody else.

“It’s an individual thing. No matter who appoints you if you’re a man of courage, some-body that has conscience, and if you’re a democrat, if you’re a technocrat, once you get into office, you’ll do the needful, be-cause it’s a tenure position.”

He added, “I’m not setting an agenda for the next INEC chair-man. He should set an agenda for himself, knowing what is happening in Nigeria and what has happened, and try to cor-rect it, live above board, make sure that his name is written in gold. Just like Humphrey Nwosu, of blessed memory, who was celebrated even after his death.”

Prince Adewole Adebayo told Daily Independent that it’s presumed that the president is a patriot and he can appoint a man of integrity who will be cleared by the National Assem-bly which has spread across the country.

“The constitution says the president and command-er-in-chief is going to appoint the INEC chairman. Then the National Assembly is going to clear him. In addition, before it goes to the National Assembly, the president will consult with the Council of State. So there are enough safeguards in the constitution to ensure that the president who must be pre-sumed, if we’re not going to be an unfortunate country, we have to presume that the pres-ident is a patriot. If the presi-dent is not a patriot, and he doesn’t love the country, and is not faithful to the constitution, we’re already lost out.

“So when you have a pres-ident that cannot be trusted, that the people of Nigeria can-not trust, you have a problem. But you also have the Council of State, which has all the gov-ernors of different political parties, has all former heads of state, all former heads of judiciary and the present head of judiciary. They’re there to advise the president. So if the president suggests a name to them, they can say, “oh, we know this person to be of bad character, or this person is not good enough, or think of one way or the other.

“So I think under the pres-ent system, if you can find good people, it’ll work out. If you change the system, and you don’t want to find good people, it won’t work out. So let’s not waste our time on the ques-tion of who can appoint the INEC. It’s clear that the pres-ident, with the advice of the Council of State will appoint a candidate for the office of chair-man of INEC, then we have the whole National Assembly, from every constituency, including everyone’s hometown. There’s someone representing you in National Assembly.”