‘Democracy Without Democrats’, Itodo Faults Confirmation Of ‘Partisan’ RECs
Samson Itodo, the Executive Director of civil society organisation, YIAGA Africa, has expressed disappointment with the Senate over the red chamber’s confirmation of two of the 10 individuals nominated by President Bola Tinubu as Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Itodo, who spoke on Thursday, alleged that two of the seven confirmed RECs are partisan, faulting the Senate’s decision despite petitions brought against the two nominees.
Itodo said the Senate’s hasty decision to confirm the two individuals showed that Nigeria has “democracy without democrats”.
He said, “The Senate President refused to refer this matter to the relevant committee and they went ahead to confirm these people. There were petitions that were submitted against these people especially the two nominees that Nigerians have raised flags against while the public space is flooded with images and videos of these individuals.”
“This is not too far, it was just 2019, less than four or six years down the line. These are individuals who are really out there and confessed their political preference and alignment and you went ahead and confirm these people.
“What it just simply tells us is that we have got a democracy without democrats; we have a democracy with individuals who do not care about the people and do not care about our institutions.
“I think it’s heart-breaking, you see what happened in the Senate yesterday (Wednesday) and see how these guys are killing our institutions. How can you explain to a Nigerian that this person was confirmed for a democratic institution which is supposed to serve as an umpire?” Itodo queried.
The YIAGA boss accused the political class of grand conspiracy, berating the opposition political parties for not kicking against the confirmation of the two nominated RECs indicted for being members of a political party.
Itodo lamented that the purpose of checks and balances have been defeated with the behaviour of the legislators who were supposed to check any excesses of the executive.
He said lawmakers have all abdicated their responsibilities to Civil Society Organisations and that the inability of lawmakers to do their jobs credibly is damaging to democratic institutions.
Senate on Wednesday approved the appointment of seven of the ten nominees of the President as INEC RECs. The remaining three nominees were not present for screening.
The nominees approved are Mr Etekamba Umoren – Akwa Ibom; Mr Isha Ehimeakne – Edo; Barr. Oluwatoyin Babalola – Ekiti; Mr Abubakar Ahmed – Gombe; Shehu Wahab – Kwara; Aminu Idris – Nasarawa; and Mohammed Abubakar Sadiq – Niger.
