It was an unprecedented moment last Sunday when Senator Aisha Dahiru, popularly known as Binani, was declared the winner of the Adamawa State gubernatorial election by the Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, Barrister Hudu Yunusa Ari.

Ari had shocked the nation with what many described as a coup when he usurped the power of the Returning Officer to declare Binani as winner of the State governorship election.

Recall that a supplementary election was conducted in 69 polling units in the State the previous Saturday in places where election was not held during the March 18 gubernatorial election.

Prior to her declaration, Binani was trailing behind Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who had maintained a margin of 31,249 votes. Fintiri scored 421, 524 votes ahead of Binani, who polled 390, 275 votes before Saturday’s supplementary poll.

With 10 local councils collated, the exercise was adjourned till 11 am on Sunday.

But as early as 9 am, the REC appeared, with a cover provided by the Commissioner of Police and announced Binani as winner of the election without any figures. The Electoral Act mandates the Returning Officer, not REC, to announce such results.

While reacting to the development, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, denounced the purported declaration of Binani as the winner.

The Commission said the action of the REC amounted to usurpation of the power of the Returning Officer, insisting it is null, void and of no effect.

“The action of the REC is a usurpation of the power of the Returning Officer. It is null, void and of no effect. Consequently, the collation of results of the supplementary election is hereby suspended,” a statement by INEC read.

INEC suspended collating of results of the supplementary election and summoned the REC to Abuja. The Commission wrote the REC, ordering him to steer clear of its office in Yola, Adamawa State.

In reactions, the Centre for Democracy and Development described the action of the REC as an insult to the Electoral Act and to the Commission.

The Executive Director of CDD, Idayat Hassan, noted that the REC had illegally taken over the duties of the Returning Officer, adding that the action was capable of “provoking the breakdown of law and order in the state”, in light of the already tense political atmosphere.

While speaking on the infamous conduct of the Adamawa REC, a former Director, Voter Education and Publicity at INEC, Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, stated that Yunusa ought to face ‘inquisition.’

Osaze-Uzzi noted that INEC could not discipline a REC, stating that only the President acting on the resolution by the two-thirds majority of the Senate can remove the REC, warning he might face jail time for his action.

He said, “Ordinarily, for doing what he did, the REC ought to face some kind of inquisition. However, INEC can inquire into what happened. But in terms of discipline or removal, the President can do that.

“Also, it is to be noted that any person who announces or publishes an election result knowing the same to be false commits an offence and is liable to imprisonment for 36 months under section 120(4) of the Electoral Act, 2022.

“And under section 6(2) of the Act, the REC is answerable to the Commission.”

Meanwhile, INEC wrote the Inspector-General of Police, Baba Ahmed, to investigate and prosecute Ari, following its technical meeting attended by the INEC’s national commissioners in Abuja.

The Commission also wrote the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Boss Mustapha, to brief President Muhammadu Buhari about the “unwholesome behaviour” of the REC.

In the aftermath, President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the immediate suspension from office of REC, pending the completion of investigation by the Inspector General of Police on the conduct and actions of the REC during the supplementary election in the State.

The President also directed the immediate investigation and prosecution, if found liable, of Ari, by the Inspector General of Police.

A statement by Director of Information, office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), Wille Bassey, noted that the President directed investigation by the Inspector General of Police, Director-General of the Department of State Services, and the Commandant General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, of the role of their officers in aiding and abetting the conduct and actions of Yunusa and if found culpable, appropriate disciplinary actions, to be meted out to them.

The unfolding development again brings to fore the discourse around the appropriate model of nominating or appointing chairman and members of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). 

Sometime last year, Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN) had criticised President Muhammadu Buhari over the nomination of 14 Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs), noting that the appointment of the chairman and members of INEC was not in strict compliance with the provisions of Section 154(3) of the Nigeria Constitution, 1999.

Falana said the president made the appointments without consulting with the Council of State, as was previously, before submitting the names of nominees to the Senate for confirmation in line with Section 154(1) of the Constitution.

He said the nomination had also been challenged on the ground of being card-carrying members of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

He added that 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,” he said.

Citing the judgment of a Federal High Court in suit no: FHC/ABJ/CS/ 2021, he said the nominations did not comply with the 35 percent affirmative action for women and Section 287 of the Constitution.

Complaints around the President’s nomination of RECs of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are sufficiently potent to deserve careful and dispassionate handling by both the executive and the legislative arms of government.

The basic contention is that some persons nominated by President Muhammadu Buhari for the position of RECs are not deserving of such nominations either by operation of the law or by moral suasion.

The Federal Government has always been caught in a consistent pattern of flagrant disregard for the provisions of the country’s fundamental laws.

Nigerians, for instance, were taken aback when the President nominated Ms. Lauretta Onochie, a prominent card-carrying member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as a national commissioner of INEC in 2021. But for the prompt and loud protest of members of the public that successfully persuaded the Senate to reject the nomination for contravening the provisions of Section 156(1)(a) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the nomination could have sailed through.

But again, the President’s disregard for the rule of law manifested in another list of RECs subsequently forwarded to the Senate. Four out of the 19 nominees were described as persons with political affinities and shady reputations. Urging the Senate to completely discountenance the nomination, a coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) stated that some of the nominees failed the constitutional test of non-partisanship and unquestionable integrity.

Evidence abounds that some of the nominees were partisan, politically aligned, or previously indicted for corruption. In that instance, Prof. Muhammad Lawal Bashir from Sokoto State was a governorship aspirant under the APC in the 2015 elections. Mrs. Sylvia Uchenna Agu, Enugu State nominee, was believed to be the younger sister of the APC Deputy National Chairman, Southeast. Two other nominees were allegedly indicted for corruption and conniving with politicians to undermine elections respectively.

The coalition contended “that the appointment of these individuals as RECs will significantly undermine the neutrality and impartiality of the Independent National Electoral Commission and it will increase mistrust in INEC and Nigeria’s electoral process.”

Reacting to the development, however, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, urging Nigerians to allow the screening of the REC nominees by the Senate to take its course, maintaining that the President will not withdraw the names of the embattled nominees based on “social media trials.”

A review of the credentials of most of the nominees showed that they fell short of the requisite constitutional standards. The President is tasked with the legal and moral obligations to ensure that the occupiers of the office of REC are persons with utmost integrity, good character, and political neutrality in order to inspire confidence in the country’s electoral process.