Segun Akanni, Toronto, Canada 
The Senate, on Thursday, confirmed the nomination of 15 out of the 27 Resident Electoral Commissioners of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
They are Prof. Godswill Obioma (Abia), James Apam (Benue), Nwachukwu Orji (Ebonyi), Iloh Valentine (Enugu), Nentewa Yilwatda (Plateau), Umar Ibrahim (Taraba), Emeka Ononamadu (Imo), Obo Effanga (Cross River), Prof. Francis Ezeonu (Anambra), Briyia Frankland (Bayelsa), Ibrahim Abdullahi (Adamawa), Agboke Mutiu (Ogun), Hussaini Pai (FCT), Ahmad Makama (Bauchi) and Sadiq Musa (Kaduna).
Those dropped from the confirmation lists are Asmau Maikudi (Katsina), Mahmuda Isa (Kebbi), Prof. Samuel Egwu (Kogi), Prof. Mustapha Zubairu (Niger), Abdul-Ganiyu Olayinka (Oyo) and Prof. Riskuwa Shehu (Sokoto).
Others are Ahmad Mahmud (Zamfara), Nentewa Yilwatda (Plateau), Mike Igini (Delta), Jibrin Zarewa (Kano), Rufus Akeju (Lagos), Sam Olumekun (Ondo) and Kasim Geidam (Yobe).
The confirmation followed the adoption of the report by the Senate Committee on INEC at the plenary on Thursday.
President Muhammadu Buhari had nominated 27 persons and forwarded the list to the Senate for approval.
The Chairman of the committee, Senator Suleiman Nazif, while presenting the report, said all the nominees were cleared by the Nigeria Police, Department of State Services and the Code of Conduct Bureau.
He added that the remaining nominees were still under screening by the panel.
Nazif stated, “The nominees appeared before the committee on Wednesday, May 10, Thursday, May 11 and on Monday, May 15, 2017, for the screening. The screening of the nominees was carried out in batches.
“The findings on the nominees are as follows: The 27 nominees referred to the committee for screening were cleared by relevant security agencies – the Police, Department of State Services and the Code of Conduct Bureau.
“Recommendation: after a through scrutiny of all relevant documents of the nominees, members of the committee were satisfied with the qualifications, experience and suitability of the 15 nominees in the first batch, while the remaining 12 nominees are still undergoing screening by the committee.”
A member of the Committee on INEC, who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity, explained that the panel received petitions against most of the nominees.
He, however, noted that some of the petitions were frivolous.
The source added, “There are petitions against them, although some are frivolous petitions. Some petitions cited political reasons such as where a nominee comes from in a state.
“For instance, there is a petition against the choice of a nominee from a senatorial district. I can confirm to you that none of the petitions made criminal allegations against any of the nominees.”
When asked if there is hope that the remaining 12 nominees would soon be confirmed by the Senate, the lawmaker said, “That depends on if the Senate clears them and how soon they are cleared.”
President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, who presided over the plenary, congratulated the RECs on their appointments.
“They are coming at a very important time to complement the work already being done by the Chairman (of INEC) and to guide us into setting new reforms that we set in the amendment to the INEC Act (Electoral Act).
“We hope that they will be able to do that successfully so that we can continue to improve on our electoral processes,” he said.
