Some REC nominees have political affiliations – Samson Itodo

Yiaga Africa Director, Samson Itodo, has said some Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) nominees have political affiliations.

President Muhammadu Buhari recently nominated 19 new RECs and sent their names to the Senate for approval.

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Itodo, who spoke on the 2023 general elections during an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today, urged the Senate to properly screen the nominees.

He said, “Now that Resident Electoral Commissioners have been appointed, some of them we know have political affiliations; we know some have been indicted for corrupt practices. The Senate should ensure any nominee of the president that has a questionable character and partisan leaning is not cleared as a Resident Electoral Commissioner to manage election because if they are deployed to those states and begin to advance their partisan interest they are going to get push back from other political actors.

“When there is perceived injustice, an attempt by the incumbent to capture INEC, and if other political actors don’t have confidence that INEC is impartial and it has been captured by the ruling party that is also is a recipe for disaster and violence.”

He added that Nigerians are honestly looking for campaigns defined by issues and are in dire need of leaders that can provide excellent leadership.