Arewa Youths Ask Buhari To Review List Of INEC National Commissioners

Northern youths under the auspice of Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, AYCF, on Tuesday came hard on president Muhammadu Buhari saying his nominees for National Commissioners at the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, lacked integrity.

The group expressed worry over the list of nominees sent to the Senate by the President, alleging that excluding persons of integrity would endanger credibility of the electoral umpire.

The group stated this in a statement titled, ‘INEC Commissioner Nominees : Why is it that persons of proven integrity are endangered under President Buhari ?’, which was signed by President of the AYCF, Yerima Shettima.

The statement said the list containing names of Commissioners to be appointed into INEC excluded persons that the Nigerian people have applauded for their undoubted commitment to credible elections.

THE WHISTLER reports that six national commissioners representing the six geopolitical zones in the country whose tenure elapsed first week of December 2021 were Prof. Okechukwu Obinna Ibeanu (South-east); May Agbamuche-Mbu (South-south); AVM Ahmed Tijani Mu’Azu (North-east); Mohammed Kudu Haruna (North Central); Dr. Adekunle Ladipo Ogunmola (South-west), while Abubakar Ahmed Nahuche (North-west) had resigned in the wake of the last general elections in 2019.

This created a vacuum leading to the appointment of new commissioners whose names were forwarded to the National Assembly mid-December 2021.

Those apppointed were Mohammed Haruna (Niger State, North Central) – National Commissioner, May Agbamuche-Mbu (Delta State) – National Commissioner and Okeagu Nnamdi (Abia State, South East) – National Commissioner.
Others were Maj. Gen. A.B. Alkali (Adamawa State, North East) – National Commissioner, Rada Gumus (Bayelsa State, South South) – National Commissioner, and Sam Olumekun (Ondo State, South West) – National Commissioner.

Also appointed was Olaniyi Ijalaye (Ondo State, South West) as Resident Electoral Commissioner.

But the Arewa youths disagreed with the president noting that, “Whereas no human being is indispensable, it is important to question the motive of removing Individuals that represent true reforms and integrity of our electoral process and expect Nigerians to hope for a credible elections in 2023.

“Consequently, we at the AYCF have the following posers for President Muhammadu Buhari: Why should Prof. Okey lbeanu, someone people in INEC regard as extremely brilliant with high integrity be denied tenure renewal because he supervised a credible election in Anambra?

“Why should an honest and straight-forward personality like AVM Mu’azu be refused a second tenure and why should the National Commissioner Engr. Nahuche, regarded as a very disciplined person, resign from INEC when our public institutions like the electoral body needs such people to promote and propagate the institutional values that INEC is meant to promote?

“Why should someone like the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of Sokoto, Alhaji Sadiq Musa Abubakar who demonstrated character and integrity in the 2019 election not appointed as a National Commissioner?

“Why is it that under this administration, persons who demonstrate incorruptibility, a high sense of integrity are either exited from the system or are endangered while service, under the government of Mr. President who is reputed to be a man of integrity?

“While we present these posers, it is also pertinent to ask ourselves critical questions about integrity and service to this nation: -“In this country, do we really have a book of remembrance? If we do, then we should have remembered that there were few exceptional individual RECs like Barrister MIKE IGINI (Esq) in the 2015 elections who stood their grounds at the risk of their lives for credible elections that made it possible for president Buhari and others to win the election with legitimacy.

“Why is it that these exceptional kind of people that the country truly needs are now victims of the very system they have worked so hard to build and the system is being suffused with persons that will not lend legitimacy to election outcomes?

“Why is it that these few RECS that have shown uncommon integrity given the sensitive nature of INEC job and others who exhibited the same character of consistency and did well in 2019 election are now side-lined? How does a nation get a pool of the required critical mass of people to man its institutions to give credibility to process and outcome?

“If those who have shown competence and demonstrated good character are treated with disdain, what message is the president sending to the general public about integrity, if these few exceptional individuals are treated this manner?

According to the group, “If Mr President fails to review the list of Nominees for Senate and make changes, the clear message is that serving your country with integrity and honesty doesn’t matter anymore.

“That is why Nigerians are shocked that some of the serving RECS that Nigerians see as fetching symbol of hope that upright people are still in lNEC have all now been left out. The list of current nominees do not command public confidence of Nigerians because they are establishment and largely partisan proxy nominees, a trend that Nigerian electoral history was forced to retreat from after the 2007 general election.”

The group pointed out that Buhari is reputed as a man of integrity yet those who have proven record of integrity and competence in lNEC and who have helped to provide much needed credibility to electoral outcomes since 2011, 2015 and 2019 from North-West, North-East and South-South and who ought to be elevated as National commissioners have all been sacrificed because of their integrity and incorruptability on matters of election.

“This is clear retreat and regression to the electoral fiascos of the past such as 2003 and 2007 that President Buhari himself decried when he participated in those election,” it added.

They warned that, “If this is not reversed, it may portend bad omen for the coming general elections and beyond.”

They called on Buhari “for sake of national interest and a need to safeguard our electoral democracy in 2023, to recall the list sent to the Senate and appoint people who have proven records of commitment to electoral integrity that Nigerians already know nationwide. This is in order for Nigerians to have confidence in the preparations for the 2023 elect.”