Nigeria In One Minute
‘27 states have no electoral commissioners’
Only ten of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs), Daily Trust reports.
Analysts believe the development is a serious violation which poses serious hindrance to political activities.
Many states have been without Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) for nearly two years, leaving the responsibility on the shoulders of administrative secretaries of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
At present, Prof. Jatau is the REC for the FCT, Olusegun Agbaje (Ondo), Austin Okojie (Bayelsa), Baba Abba Yusuf (Adamawa), Nasiru Ayila (Niger), Baritor Kpagi (Delta), Habu Zarma (Taraba), Aniedi Ikoiwak (Rivers), Abdullahi Kaugama (Kaduna) and Godwin Kwanga (Plateau).
Sources said three of the RECs would also roundup their tenures starting from March this year and by December, almost all of them would go.
The states that presently have no REC include Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Edo, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Ogun, Osun, Oyo, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara.
President Muhammadu Buhari had in December 2016 inaugurated six INEC commissioners which made up the 12 prescribed by the Nigerian Constitution amidst high expectation that vacancies in the states would be filled.
It was gathered that the Presidency was looking at the possibility of implementing the report of the Justice Muhammad Lawal Uwais committee, which partly recommended appointment of INEC staff as directors of elections in states instead of appointing outsiders as RECs.
Daily Trust, February 22, 2017
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