APC, PDP members not qualified to be appointed INEC RECs – Falana

APC, PDP members not qualified to be appointed INEC RECs – Falana

 Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has faulted the
nomination of 4 out of 10 persons nominated as Resident Electoral Commissioners
last week by President Bola Tinubu.

 

He noted that the constitution prohibits person, or persons
who are card carrying members of either the ruling party or any political
party.

 

The Chairman Alliance on Surviving Covid 19 and Beyond
(ASCAB), in a statement on Sunday cited some interesting sections of the constitution
to back up his claims.

In his words:  “By the
combined effect of section 154(1) of the Constitution and Paragraph 14 of the
Third Schedule to the Constitution, there shall be for each State of the
Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, a Resident Electoral
Commissioner who shall –be appointed by the President and shall  not less than forty years of age.

 

“In addition, the person shall be of unquestionable
integrity and non-partisan. Thus, in order to guarantee the credibility of
elections, persons who are loyal to any of the registered  political parties shall not be appointed as
INEC Commissioners and Resident Electoral Commissioners.

 

“However, we have confirmed that 4 out of 10 persons
nominated as Resident Electoral Commissioners last week by President Bola
Tinubu are Constitutionally disabled. Specifically  4 of them are members and  close allies of the All Progressive Congress
while another member has just relinquished the post of a Special Adviser to a
former Governor elected on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party.

 

“The conduct of the 2027 General Elections must be
transparent in every material particular. Therefore, the nation cannot afford
to have the Independent National Electoral Commission constituted by card
carrying members and loyalists of the ruling party and its collaborators. To
that extent, the appointment of the 4 nominees will be challenged at the
Federal High Court if the  Senate decides
to confirm them in defiance of extant constitutional provisions.”

Source: APC, PDP members not qualified to be appointed INEC RECs – Falana

 - NigerianEye
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