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By Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja
The Senate has approved President Bola Tinubu’s request to terminate the appointments of the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) of Adamawa, Sokoto, and Abia States following indictments for misconduct.
Tinubu, in a letter addressed to the Senate and read by Senate President Godswill Akpabio during plenary on Wednesday, urged the Senate to invoke Section 157 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) to effect the termination of their appointments.
He noted that the RECs had been suspended in March 2023, prior to the start of his administration. The affected RECs are Dr Nura Ali (Sokoto), Barr Hudu Yunusa Ari (Adamawa), and Prof Ikemefuna Chijioke Uzochukwu (Abia).
They were alleged to have committed infractions against the Electoral Act, including election compromise and abandonment of duty without cogent reasons.
In a motion moved on the matter by the Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele (Ekiti Central), the Senate recalled that Akpabio had earlier read Tinubu’s request for the termination of the RECs’ appointments.
Bamidele highlighted security reports from the Office of the National Security Adviser and the Department of State Services (DSS), which indicted Dr Nura Ali for compromising the 2023 presidential and National Assembly elections through acts of incompetence and corruption. Ali reportedly confessed to receiving $150,000 from politicians during a DSS investigation.
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Barr Hudu Yunusa Ari was suspended by former President Muhammadu Buhari after a prima facie case was established against him for usurping the powers of the returning officer to declare the governorship election results.
Prof Ikemefuna Chijioke Uzochukwu was suspended for undermining election processes through poor handling of logistics, abandonment of governorship and state assembly elections, and refusal to reschedule supplementary elections.
The Senate leader cited Section 157(1) of the Constitution, which stipulates:
“A person holding any of the offices to which this section applies may only be removed from that office by the President acting on an address supported by a two-thirds majority of the Senate, praying that he be so removed for inability to discharge the functions of the office (whether arising from infirmity of mind or body or any other cause) or for misconduct.”
He noted that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is one of the offices covered under Subsection (2) of the constitutional provision.
“Accordingly, it is apt for the Senate to invoke and activate the provision of Section 157(1) of the Constitution to remove the suspended Resident Electoral Commissioners, in line with the resolve of the 10th Senate to uphold the rule of law and sustain the ideals of morality and the tenets of corporate governance in Nigeria,” Bamidele stated.
When put to a vote, the motion was approved with the required two-thirds majority, as 81 senators signed the register, excluding members of the Senate leadership.
The Senate President subsequently directed the Clerk of the Senate to forward correspondence to the President, confirming the dismissal of the three RECs.
