Tinubu picks six new INEC officials, renews Bala Bila’s appointment

President Bola Tinubu has reappointed Dr. Bala Bila as one of the National Commissioners of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). He has also appointed six others to occupy the vacancies within the commission.

These appointments consist of four National Commissioners and two Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs), after the expiration of some of the tenures of the existing commissioners.

According to a statement issued on Friday by Bayo Onanuga, the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, the nominees will appear before the Senate for screening and confirmation.

The statement said Professor Mustapha Aliu had been nominated to replace Professor Abdullahi Zuru as the National Commissioner representing the North-West, while Bashir Muhammed Umar would replace Professor Muhammad Adamu as the North-Central representative.

Tinubu also nominated Mrs Oluwatoyin Babalola, the current Resident Electoral Commissioner in Osun State, as the National Commissioner representing the South-West.

She is expected to replace Professor Cornelius Ajayi, whose tenure expires on October 24.

For the Resident Electoral Commissioner positions, the President nominated retired permanent secretary, Dr Samuel Akinjide Akinleye, to represent Ekiti State, while Zahradden Basiru Sanusi, from Jigawa State, was nominated to replace Professor Saidu Ahmed Babura.

The statement noted that the nominations were made to fill vacancies arising from the expiration of the tenures of serving commissioners.

Tinubu urged the Senate to expedite the confirmation process in view of the forthcoming general elections scheduled for January next year.

“The Senate will scrutinise all the nominees,” the statement said.

The President also called for a speedy confirmation process, stressing the need to fill the vacancies ahead of the forthcoming general elections.

The nominations will take effect subject to the Senate’s screening and confirmation.