Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has urged the Federal Government to publicly advertise the position of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chairman and other top roles to ensure a transparent and credible selection process.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday, October 22, Falana said the idea of advertising the positions was first proposed by the Justice Mohammed Lawal Uwais panel in 2008 to guarantee the independence of the electoral body.
According to him, several African countries, including Lesotho and Botswana, have already adopted this practice, allowing citizens of proven integrity to apply and compete openly for positions in their electoral commissions.
“What other countries in Africa have done — Lesotho, Botswana, and the rest of them — is to put in place a mechanism whereby vacant positions in the electoral bodies are advertised.
“And this was the recommendation of the Uwais Panel as far back as 2008, that in choosing members of the electoral commission and resident electoral commissioners, we should advertise the positions,” Falana said.
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He added that such an open process would not only promote accountability but also allow members of the public to raise objections against unqualified or compromised applicants.
“Members of the public will be given the opportunity to object to any of them who are not qualified morally or otherwise. And then the names are shortlisted, and the best three are sent to the National Assembly,” he explained.
Falana further suggested that the National Judicial Council should screen applicants and recommend three qualified candidates to the National Assembly, from which the President would appoint one.
“This goes a long way to make the body free from control,” the SAN noted.
His remarks came shortly after the Senate confirmed Professor Joash Amupitan as the new INEC chairman following his nomination by President Bola Tinubu and endorsement by the National Council of State.