The immediate past Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Festus Okoye, is still listed on the website of the electoral body as National Commissioner four weeks after his five-year tenure expired, checks by SaharaReporters revealed. Okoye was sworn-in by former President Muhammadu Buhari as National Commissioner representing South-East geopolitical zone on July 25, 2018. Though his tenure ended on July 24, 2023, SaharaReporters gathered that he had only served a term and could be re-appointed for a second term.
By Nseobong Okon-Ekong
Leading election monitoring group, Yiaga Africa has described the Senate’s rejection of Ms. Lauretta Onochie who was nominated by President Muhammadu Buhari as National Commissioner of the the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as victory for democracy on many fronts.
Mr. Samson Itodo, Executive Director of Yiaga who spoke with THISDAY on the phone said, “First, it is a demonstration of citizens’ power. Citizens power compelled the legislators to listen. The nomination of Lauretta Onochie was wrong ab initio. It was an aberration of the constitution. It was a demand to the legislators to stick with the provision of the Constitution which clearly forbids nomination of anyone who is partisan as an INEC Commissioner. Onochie is a self-confessed member of a political party and this was definitely going to undermine the integrity of the 2023 national elections.