From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja
The Senate has confirmed the appointment of five individuals as Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The confirmation followed the consideration of a report by the Senate Committee on Electoral Matters, which screened the nominees. Senator Simon Lalong, chairman of the Committee presented the report during plenary.
The screening exercise was conducted on Tuesday, May 6, under the former chairman of the Committee, Sharafadeen Abiodun Ali.
The newly confirmed RECs are Umar Yusuf Garba (Kano), Sa’ad Umar Idris (Bauchi), Chukwuemeka Ibeziako (Anambra), Umar Mukhtar (Borno) and Dr. Johnson Alalibo Simikiem (Bayelsa).
Following their confirmation, Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, urged the appointees to justify the trust placed in them by the President through dedication and integrity in the discharge of their duties.
“With the calibre of nominees confirmed today, the President has once again infused capable hands into INEC. It is expected that they will contribute significantly to strengthening the Commission’s processes and overall performance,” Akpabio stated.
In a related development, the Senate has amended the 2024 South East Development Commission Act.
This followed the presentation of the amendment bill by the leader of the Senate, Opeyemi Bamidele.
The bill was given accelerated passage having gone through first and second readings, following the suspension of senate rule 7(1).
Presenting the bill, Bamidele said the amendment sought to amend the South East Development Commission Act 2024, to reconcile the lacuna that exists in the Act as it relates to the appointment of executive directors
This, he said, was to ensure uniformity and equality. “You may recall that we debated and passed the South-South, South West and North Central Development Commission amendment bills yesterday.
“The South East Commission was inadvertently omitted from the list,” he said.
Accordingly, you will recall that the Senate had resolved that there should be uniformity and equality in the development commissions, hence, the need for the amendment,” Bamidele said.
He, therefore, urged the senate to expeditiously pass the bill.
The Senate, after a clause-by-clause consideration, passed the amended bill.