Tinubu Requests Senate Confirmation for REC Nominees and FERMA Board Members

• President Tinubu submits names of 10 nominees for Resident Electoral Commissioner positions for Senate confirmation, following constitutional provisions
• Separate letter includes a request for Senate confirmation of 11 individuals appointed to FERMA’s governing board, urging prompt action

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has sent a formal request to the Senate seeking confirmation for the appointment of 10 individuals as Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs). This request was made in accordance with constitutional provisions and was read out during a Senate plenary session by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.

The nominees for REC positions are as follows:

1. Etekamba Umoren (Akwa Ibom State)
2. Isah Ehimeakne (Edo)
3. Oluwatoyin Babalola (Ekiti)
4. Abubakar Ma’aji (Gombe)
5. Shehu Wahab (Kwara)
6. Bunmi Omoseyindemi (Lagos)
7. Aminu Idris (Nasarawa)
8. Mohammed Yelwa (Niger)
9. Anugbum Onuoha (Rivers)
10. Isma’ila Moyi (Zamfara)

These individuals are proposed to serve a five-year term each and can only be removed by the president with the approval of a two-thirds vote from the National Assembly.

In a separate letter, President Tinubu also requested Senate confirmation for 11 individuals appointed as members of the governing board of the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA).

The Senate president referred these requests to the Committee of the Whole for screening and confirmation, and the President encouraged the Senate to handle the matters promptly.

Adamawa REC Who Prematurely Announced Election Result to Face Arraignment on November 6

The Adamawa State High Court of Justice has officially scheduled the arraignment of the suspended Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Barrister Hudu Ari Yunusa, for November 6, 2023. This comes in the wake of the controversial declaration of Senator Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the governorship poll in Adamawa State before the collation process had concluded.

Senator Ahmed’s declaration by Yunusa was made amidst ongoing collation activities. At that juncture, official results released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) indicated that Senator Ahmed, the APC candidate, was trailing Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), with a notable margin of 31,249 votes.