The national commissioners include the representive of the South East, South-South, North East, North Central, and South West.
Already there had been a vacuum created as a result of the absence of one of the national commissioners, Engr. Abu Bakar Nahuche , who resigned after the 2019 general elections.
According to inside sources, the push for replacement has created both panic and apprehension within and without the commission.
On the one hand, should the President not appoint replacementfor the positions on time, the various zones risk being under-represented.
On another level, there are serious concerns as to the caliber of persons who will be appointed and what value they will be bringing to the commission, it was gathered.
Multiple sources at the commission have expressed optimism that the President will sign into law the Electoral Act Amendment Bill which has been transmitted to him by the National Assembly, they are however worried that the appointment of people with partisan inclination may scuttle ongoing work at the Commission.
The second critical issue, if not the most important given that INEC innovations are themselves not self-implemented or executory, is the need for the president to appoint individuals of high integrity to replace the six national electoral commissioners whose tenure will elapse by the first week of December 2021.
“The people to be appointed should be capable, credible, and distinguished Nigerians from the different geopolitical zones where these vacancies have to be filled. If people of questionable character and integrity are appointed into INEC, the public will lose confidence and the gains of innovations will be eroded,” they said, as they recalled the wide outcry and condemnation in the last set of appointments at INEC that included Ms. Lauretta Onochie, whose appointment nearly tarnished President Buhari’s local and international image.
“the building of an enduring institution in INEC should be a matter of interest for the president given how he had consistently blamed his previous electoral losses on a flawed electoral system, supervised by compromised INEC officials until ex-president Goodluck Jonathan appointed Prof. Attahiru Jega and others with civil society background.” The source opined.
National commissioner and chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Festus Okoye, confirmed that the tenure of five commissioners would elapse on December 6, 2021 and they would have to be replaced.
He insisted that there is no need to panic over the matter.