— and represents a blight by not acknowledging and promoting appointees who have demonstrated a high sense of integrity.
Even the late Professors Eme Awa and Humphrey Nwosus’s team of electoral operators still have some living members.
Whereas they may have advanced in age, Professors Adele Jinadu, a former National Commissioner, and Tonnie Iredia, NEC Director of Public Affairs, are still alive and their institutional memory would be invaluable to the Tinubu administration.
The Nigerian electoral process requires a root and branch reform beyond policing election malpractice and fraud, one steeped in appointing and retaining those with a proven track record of diligence and probity.
The appointment of tested and trusted hands will assist in de-escalating the competitiveness of elections, and the process may become more manageable in terms of procedures, including minimising the influence of political actors in determining how election laws are formulated and approved.
Such reforms and several others recommended and widely accepted by citizens as necessary for election integrity should be championed by the Tinubu regime as someone who rose to leadership under a process of resistance to election annulment.
Obtaining the public’s support for such revival will be a significant step towards greater legitimacy, as will appointing credible election managers to steer such reforms to the EMB.
Former Chairman of INEC, Professor Attahiru Jega, who battled forces against the commission, ensured that the 2015 general elections enjoyed credibility while working with some trusted National Commissioners and RECs.
