The President of the Senate, on Wednesday, 12th March 2025 read a letter from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu requesting the confirmation of Umar Yusuf Garba (Kano State), Sa’ad Umar (Bauchi State), Chukwuemeka Ibeziako (Anambra State), and Mohammed Ngoshe (Borno State) as Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
However, prior to this, the submission of the names of two different nominees for Bayelsa State, Dr. Owede Kosioma Eli and Dr. Johnson Alalibo Simikeme, via two letters dated Wednesday, 5 March 2025, created confusion within the Senate. The first letter identified Dr. Eli as the nominee representing Bayelsa, but a follow-up letter listed Dr. Simikeme as the preferred nominee. Noting this unusual occurrence, the President of the Senate, Sen. Godswill Akpabio, at the plenary session of 12 March 2025 emphasized the need to officially notify the Presidency about the dual nomination to ensure clarity and prevent further procedural errors that could undermine the credibility of the confirmation process.
Amidst the confusion, Sen. Akpabio had read a second follow-up letter from the President dated 7th March 2025 where the said two nominees for Bayelsa State were entirely omitted. The President of the Senate noted that this letter of 7th March 2025 (which, at this point was the third in the series of letters from the President requesting confirmation of his nominees) takes precedence over the two earlier letters of 5th March 2025. In his opinion, the most recent communication from the President should be treated by the Senate as the official stance of the President on the nominations. However this issue seems to have been resolved via another letter sent to the Senate on Tuesday, 18th March 2025 wherein Dr. Johnson Alalibo Simikeme was indicated as the nominee for Bayelsa.
This spectacle in the Senate over dual or conflicting nominations fuels speculations about political maneuvering and internal disagreements within the Presidency over executive appointments. It also raises questions about the integrity of the nominations process, particularly for critical agencies such as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which is supposed to be a non-partisan body.
This will not be the first time that nominees for appointment as RECs for INEC have generated controversy within the Senate and among the public. Past nominations into the Commission have faced criticism and allegations of political bias, improper vetting, or procedural lapses, reinforcing the need for a thorough and transparent confirmation process. The President’s request has been referred to the Senate Committee on Electoral Matters for further legislative action.