2027 Game Plan: How Tinubu Hurriedly Appointed APC Member As Top INEC Staff When Tenure Of Current Officer Has Not Expired

A report has revealed how President Bola Tinubu hurriedly appointed a member of his party as a top staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, when the tenure of the current officer had not expired.

According to a report by the Independent, President Bola Tinubu erred with the appointment of Mr Etekemba Umoren as the Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC, from Akwa Ibom state when the current REC from the state, Mr Udo-Tom has at least three months to the end of his five-year tenure. Mr Udo-Tom currently serves as the Delta State REC as INEC regulations don’t allow RECs and National Commissioners to serve in their states of origin.

It was also found that Mr Umoren’s nomination and subsequent confirmation by the Senate was illegal as he was a member of Mr Tinubu’s political party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), and a long-time ally and loyalist of the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.

This is contrary to Paragraph 14, Item F of the third Schedule of the 1999 constitution which specifically dictates that partisan persons shall not be appointed to the electoral commission.

However, Tinubu and the 10th Senate under Akpabio defied the constitutional provisions to nominate and hurriedly confirm Mr Umoren and Isah Shaka, the REC from Edo State.