Falana: New INEC Commissioners’ List Is Constitutionally Defective

By Ayodele Oni

Lagos lawyer and Senior Advocate, Femi Falana has joined those condemning recent nominees for Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) job as commissioners.

Falana, speaking in his capacity as chairman, Alliance on Service Covid 19 and Beyond (ASCAB)  described the List of REC Nominees sent to the Senate for approval by the president as constitutional defective and violates binding court decision.

In a statement at the weekend, the Senior Advocate pointed out that President Mohamadu Buhari failed to consult constitutionally recognized stakeholders before compiling the list.

According to him, it has been practice since 2015 that President Buhari consulted with the Council of State whenever he wanted to appoint the Chairman and members of the  INEC including Resident Electoral Commissioners in strict compliance with the provisions of Section 154(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.

“On each occasion, the President consulted the Council of State before submitting the names of nominees to the Senate for confirmation in line with Section 154(1) of the Constitution.

“However for some undisclosed reasons, the President has forwarded the nominations of 14 persons for confirmation as Resident Electoral Commissioners without any prior consultation with the Council of State.

“Apart from the constitutional infraction, the list of the nominees has been challenged on the ground that some of them are card carrying members of the ruling party.

“At least two other nominees are alleged to be under investigation for serious electoral malpractice. Instead of subjecting the nominees to integrity test,:the Federal Government has dismissed such grave allegations with a wave of the hand.

“Having repeatedly assured the Nigerian people that the Administrators will support the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct credible elections in 2023, we call on President Buhari to withdraw the controversial list from the Senate and ensure that the nominees are investigated by relevant security agencies.

“After security clearance the President is advised to comply with section 154(3) of the Constitution by consulting the Council of State with respect to the qualification and competence of the nominees.

“It is after the consultation that the names of the nominees that are qualified should be presented to the Senate for confirmation.”

Falana also advised the President to be gender sensitive on the list citing the judgment delivered by the Federal High Court on April 10, 2022 in the case of Women Empowerment and Legal Aid & Ors v Attorney-General of the Federation (Suit No FHC/ABJ/CS/ 2021) wherein the Honourable Justice Donatus Okorowo ordered the federal government to comply with the 35 per cent affirmative action for women.

He stated that going by the judgement, women should be allowed to occupy 35 per cent of all appointments.

“Since the judgment is binding on all authorities and persons in Nigeria pursuant to section 287 of the Constitution, the President should ensure that the women in the list of nominees should not be less than 35 percent.”