Politics
Tinubu Appoints Onuoha Rivers REC, Eight Others …As INEC Restates Readiness For Imo, Kogi, Bayelsa Polls
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the appointment of Dr Anugbum Onuoha as the new Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Rivers State.
Dr Onuoha is among eight other Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) the President appointed for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for a term of five years each, subject to the confirmation of the Senate.
Presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, in a statement on Wednesday, said the appointment was done based on the powers vested in the President by Section 154 (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999, as Amended) and Section 6 of the Electoral Act (2022).
The appointees include Mr Isah Shaka Ehimeakne, Edo State Resident Electoral Commissioner; Mr Bamidele Agbede, Ekiti State Resident Electoral Commissioner; Mr Jani Adamu Bello, Gombe State Resident Electoral Commissioner; and Dr Taiye Ilayasu, Kwara State Resident Electoral Commissioner.
Others are Dr Bunmi Omoseyindemi, Lagos State Resident Electoral Commissioner; Alhaji Yahaya Bello, Nasarawa State Resident Electoral Commissioner; Prof. Mohammed Yalwa, Niger State Resident Electoral Commissioner; Dr Anugbum Onuoha, Rivers State Resident Electoral Commissioner; and Mr Abubakar Fawa Dambo, Zamfara State Resident Electoral Commissioner.
“President Tinubu expects the new appointees to abide by the highest standards of professional and ethical conduct in the discharge of their duties, in accordance with his determination to facilitate the establishment of a new and sustainable standard of transparent, fair and conflict-free electoral conduct in Nigeria,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, the commission has said that this year’s November 11 governorship elections in Bayelsa, Kogi and Imo states are critical to it.
The Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said this on Wednesday in Abuja at the quarterly consultative meeting with civil society organisations (CSOs).
”Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi governorship elections are critical to the commission. As you are aware, the commission conducted a mock accreditation involving actual voters in designated polling units in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi states two weeks ago.
“By doing so, we tested the efficacy of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for both biometric authentication of voters and the upload of results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
“Some of you observed the mock accreditation exercise and viewed the results on the IReV portal. We have received no adverse report so far. By this, we are encouraged that the test was successful, and we look forward to improved performance of the BVAS in voter accreditation and result upload in the forthcoming governorship elections and beyond,” Yakubu said.
He also noted that many of the CSOs were deploying teams of observers for the three elections and that overall, INEC has accredited 145 organisations deploying 7,896 observers, whose accredited organisations would soon be invited to collect the identity cards for their observers.
“Similarly, CSOs have on several occasions urged the commission to intercede with the security agencies to grant you unimpeded access to voting and collation locations. I want to reassure you that we will continue to do so as we engage with the security agencies both at the national level and in the three states.
“At the same time, I wish to remind all accredited observers to strictly adhere to the code of conduct for election observation,” the INEC boss said.
Responding on behalf of the CSOs, the Director of Justice and Equity Organisation (JEO), Mr Funsho Tunde, said they have some concerns pertaining to the election coverage and are glad that efforts are being made by INEC to ensure the polls are free, fair,credible and that observers are provided with adequate security.
On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed, through a second reading, a bill seeking to retain immunity for the Office of the President and remove immunity from the Vice President, the Governors and the Deputy Governors.
The bill was one of the 42 considered and passed through the second reading stage during plenary presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Mr Benjamin Kalu, in Abuja.
Sponsored by Hon. Solomon Bob (Rivers PDP), the bill is seeking the amendment of Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution to guard against abuse of office and to ensure transparency in governance.
The long title of the proposed legislation read: “A Bill for an Act to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, to qualify the immunity conferred on the President, remove the immunity conferred on the Vice President, the Governors and their deputies, in order to curb corruption, eradicate impunity and enhance accountability in public office and for related matters.”
Key amendments include changes to Section 308 of the Constitution, which currently grants immunity to the president, vice president, governors, and deputy governors while in office.
The proposed bill will amend subsection 3 to ensure that immunity only applies to the President and the vice president when acting as President under Section 145 of the Constitution.
Additionally, a new subsection 4 will be introduced to make the immunity clause inapplicable if the office holder is acting in an unofficial capacity, engaging in actions beyond the powers of the office, or involved in criminal conduct.
“The bill seeks to foster transparency and strengthen the fight against corruption by making public officials more accountable for their actions, both in and out of office.”
“Section 308 of the principal Act is amended by:(a) substituting a new subsection (3) as follows: “(3) This section applies to a person holding the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Vice President only when acting as President, in line with Section 145 of this Constitution.
Creating sub section (4) thereto as follows:”(4) The foregoing provisions of this section shall be inapplicable where the person to whom this section applies is acting in an unofficial capacity or where the conduct of the person is beyond the powers of his office or the conduct is criminal in nature.
“This Bill may be cited as the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Alteration) Act 2024.
The bill is currently awaiting further debate and consideration by the National Assembly.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has written to notify Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the senator representing Kogi Central, about the petition by constituents seeking her recall from the national assembly.
INEC said it has also received the contact details of the petitioners.
“Pursuant to section 69 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, I write to notify you of the receipt of a petition from representatives of registered voters in your constituency seeking your recall from the senate.
“The notification is in line with the provisions of clause 2 (a) of the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024.
“This letter is also copied to the presiding officer of the senate and simultaneously published on the commission’s website. Thank you”, the letter read.
The letter was signed by Ruth Oriaran Anthony, secretary to the commission.
Meanwhile, in a statement issued on Wednesday, INEC said it has now received the updated contact details from representatives of petitioners seeking to recall the senator.
In the statement, Sam Olumekun, INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education, said a letter notifying the senator of the petition has been delivered to her official address, copied to the senate presiding officer, and published on the commission’s website.
“The next step is to scrutinise the list of signatories submitted by the petitioners to ascertain that the petition is signed by more than one half (over 50%) of the registered voters in the constituency. This will be done in the coming days.
“The outcome, which will be made public, shall determine the next step to be taken by the Commission. We once again reassure Nigerians that the process will be open and transparent”, Mr Olumekun said.
Sen. Akpoti-Uduaghan had recently accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of sexually harassing her.
The allegation came in the wake of seating arrangement related altercation between Senator. Akpabio and the Kogi Central senator at the red chamber
She was subsequently suspended from the senate for six months for “gross misconduct” over the incident.
The constituents behind the recall move also accused her of “gross misconduct, abuse of office, and deceitful behaviour”.
The senator has denied wrongdoing and called the recall effort a “coordinated suppression” of her voice.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed the second reading of a bill to upgrade the Lagos State 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) to full-fledged Local Government Areas (LGAs ).
The bill, was sponsored by James Faleke, Babajimi Benson, Enitan Badru, and 19 other lawmakers.
The bill is titled “A Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) to Accommodate the Thirty-Seven (37) Development Area Councils of Lagos State as Full-Fledged Local Government Areas, Increasing the Total Number of Local Government Areas in the Federation to Eight Hundred and Eleven (811), and for Related Matters (HB. 1498),”
Once fully enacted, Nigeria’s total number of LGAs will rise from 774 to 811, with Lagos overtaking Kano and Katsina, which currently have 44 and 34 LGAs, respectively.
Proponents of the bill argue that granting full LGA status to the LCDAs would bring governance closer to the people. The 37 LCDAs were created by President Bola Tinubu in 2003 when he was governor of Lagos State.
However, it’s worth noting that the Lagos State House of Assembly has been working on a bill to replace the 37 LCDAs with newly designated administrative areas.