SaharaReporters gathered that Lawal contested as one of the governorship aspirants on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress in Sokoto State in 2015 and thus his appointment as Resident Electoral Commissioner is unconstitutional.
President Muhammadu Buhari’s government has appointed a former ruling All Progressives Congress governorship aspirant in Sokoto, Professor Muhammad Lawal as the new Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Jigawa State.
SaharaReporters gathered that Lawal contested as one of the governorship aspirants on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress in Sokoto State in 2015 and thus his appointment as Resident Electoral Commissioner is unconstitutional.
It violates Section 14(2a) of the Third Schedule to the 1999 Nigerian Constitution which provides that “a member of the Independent National Electoral Commission shall be non-partisan and a person of unquestionable integrity.”
Despite this, the Nigerian Senate confirmed his nomination as Jigawa Resident Electoral Commissioner by the Buhari Government.
In August, a coalition of eight civil society organisations condemned the appointment of 19 Resident Electoral Commissioners by Buhari.
The civil societies called on the Senate to reject the nominees, who included Lawal, saying the nomination violated the provisions of the 1999 Nigeria constitution as amended.
The organisations in a joint statement made available to SaharaReporters said the appointment negated the criteria and procedure prescribed to protect the neutrality, objectivity and non-partisanship of INEC.
While the CSOs lamented the non-inclusion of the Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) in the appointment, they disclosed that out of the 14 new appointments, the nominees from Sokoto, Enugu, Imo and Ebonyi states were either APC political loyalists or persons indicted for corruption in the past, which they said breached the constitution on appointment of INEC Resident Electoral Commissioners.
The statement said in part, "To mention a few, Prof. Muhammad Lawal Bashir from Sokoto was a governorship aspirant under the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2015 elections cycle. Mrs. Sylvia Uchenna Agu, the nominee for Enugu State, is believed to be the younger sister of the APC Deputy National Chairman, Southeast.”
When contacted for comments, Mr Rotimi Oyekanmi, the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the INEC Chairman, told SaharaReporters that it is not within the jurisdiction of the electoral body to appoint Resident Electoral Commissioners.
“INEC does not appoint Resident Electoral Commissioners. The Federal Government nominates persons for the position and the Senate confirms such individuals. Persons who have complaints against a nominee are free to submit petitions during the screening by the Senate,” he said.
But all efforts to get the Senate spokesperson, Dr Ajibola Basiru for comments on this issue were unsuccessful as he did not answer calls from SaharaReporters nor reply to a text message sent to him.
SaharaReporters earlier reported how the Senate confirmed the nomination of 19 Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs).
Their confirmation was done despite reservations from individuals and groups through petitions and complaints that some of the nominees were card-carrying members of the ruling APC.
At least two of them were allegedly under investigation for electoral malpractice.