The new RECs were appointed last week by President Bola Tinubu.
Despite protests, the Senate on Wednesday confirmed appointment of seven out of 10 newly appointed Resident Electoral Commissioners (REC) for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Those confirmed are Etekamba Umoren (Akwa Ibom) Isah Shaka Ehimeakne (Edo) Oluwatoyin Babalola (Ekiti) Abubakar Ahmed Ma'aji (Gombe) and Shehu Wahab (Kwara)
Others are Mohammed Yelwa (Niger) and Aminu Idris (Nasarawa).
At least three of them - Messrs Umoren, Shaka and Omoseyindemi - have been found to be loyalists of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio announced confirmation of the nomination of the seven RECs after they were cleared through a voice vote at the plenary.
They were screened at the committee of the whole before their confirmation was announced.
The new RECs were appointed last week by President Bola Tinubu pending their confirmation by the Senate.
The president subsequently wrote the upper chamber on 31 October seeking their confirmation.
They are to serve for a term of five years each and will be posted to states other than their own.
Bunmi Omoseyindemi (Lagos), Anugbum Onuoha (Rivers) and Isma'ila Kaura Moyi (Zamfara) were conspicuously absent at the screening.
The reasons for their absence were not made public.
Protests
There was a planned protest at the National Assembly by a coalition of civil society organisations against nomination of two of the newly appointed electoral commissioners.
The two nominees were not named before the protest was cancelled by the organisers.
A Coalition of 17 CSOs had petitioned the Senate asking it not to confirm Mr Umoren from Akwa Ibom State and Isah Ehimeakne from Edo State.
PREMIUM TIMES had reported that at least two among the new electoral commissioners may be card-carrying members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and two others were also found to be long-term allies of prominent politicians serving in the Tinubu administration.
They are Messrs Umoren, Shaka, Omoseyindemi and Onuoha.
Of the four, only Mr Onuoha was not confirmed due to his absence from the Senate on Wednesday.
The other three were confirmed.
Mr Umoren is a member of the APC and a long-time ally of the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
He served as the Chief of Staff at the Akwa Ibom State Government House when Mr Akpabio governed the state between 2007 and 2014.
Mr Akpabio also nominated him to serve as the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) under his successor, Udom Emmanuel, then an ally of Mr Akpabio. Mr Umoren was only sacked in 2018 following a fallout between Messrs Akpabio and Emmanuel, which also led to the removal of other key allies in the state executive council.
In August 2018, during a welcome rally for Mr Akpabio in Uyo, Mr Umoren and other sacked members of Mr Emmanuel's state executive council embraced the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Another open supporter of Mr Tinubu and the APC is the nominee for Edo State REC, Mr Shaka.
PREMIUM TIMES reviewed Mr Shaka's digital footprint and found multiple social media posts before, during and after the 2023 general elections that showed his bias towards Mr Tinubu and his party, the APC.
In one of such posts reviewed by this newspaper, Mr Shaka took to social media to list reasons other Nigerians should support Mr Tinubu just like he was doing.
In another post a few days before the presidential election that was held on 25 February, Mr Shaka showered praises on Mr Tinubu on his Facebook page.
The Lagos REC nominee, Bunmi Omoseyindemi, had enjoyed political patronage from Mr Tinubu and his allies since 2001. He was appointed chairman of the Lagos State Traditional Medicine Board in 2001 when Mr Tinubu governed the state, a position he held until 2015.
In 2016, he was appointed an electoral commissioner in the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) by the then-governor Akinwunmi Ambode who was also an ally of Mr Tinubu at the time.
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Their appointment is contrary to the provision of the Nigerian constitution.
The Third schedule of the 1999 constitution prohibits the appointment of a partisan person into INEC.
"There shall be for each State of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, a Resident Electoral Commissioner who shall be a person of unquestionable integrity and shall not be a member of any political party," section 14, 3(b) states.
Screening
During the screening, the seven electoral commissioners did not respond to any question.
They only introduced themselves and spoke on their educational and career backgrounds one after the other.
Many of the senators who made comments during the screening requested that the nominees should 'take a bow and go'
The lawmakers who commended Mr Tinubu for nominating the commissioners, claimed that the nominees were capable of undertaking the task.
