The European Union has expressed concern over the autonomy of the national electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC).
The perceived lack of “independence of INEC formed part of the observations of the European Union Electoral Observation Mission (EU-EOM) for 2023 general election in Nigeria.
The EU-EOM, which monitored the pre-election and post-election processes in Nigeria from January 11 to April 11, 2023 at the invitation of the electoral umpire, formally unveiled its findings and recommendations last Tuesday in Abuja.
In the document released to newsmen by leader of the team, Barry Andrews, the observer team noted that the recruitment process of senior personnel, particularly the commissioners and Resident Electoral Commissioners, constitute a serious encumbrance on the diligent operation of INEC.
Further checks revealed that the INEC chairman, his commissioners and the RECs are appointed by the sitting president, subject to confirmation by the Senate.
The EU-EOM which acknowledged that the recruitment process has an expressed provision that such personnel must not be seen to be partisan, it, however, maintained that “the selection process leaves the electoral institution vulnerable to being viewed as aligned with the government.”
The report recalled that erring RECs could not be reprimanded by the INEC Commissioners as they are “presidentially-appointed officers.
They said this exposes further systemic weakness in the electoral institutional design that obstructs fostering professionalism and trust.
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