Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has raised concerns about the credibility of elections conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) if card-carrying members of political parties are appointed as Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs). Falana emphasized this point during an interview on Channels TV, stating that this practice has been problematic since 1999.
He highlighted that successive administrations, including those of Presidents Yar’Adua, Jonathan, and Buhari, have established electoral reform committees to recommend measures for credible elections. One crucial recommendation, according to Falana, is the appointment of independent umpires without affiliations to political parties.
Falana further argued that having REC members who are affiliated with a political party could complicate INEC’s ability to conduct credible elections.
It was noted that the Senate confirmed the remaining three RECs after the first seven out of ten appointed by President Tinubu were confirmed the previous day.
