We Do Not Want A Political Party Member At Night, INEC Chair By Day – Yau Warns

Sunnex Egbu

8 hours ago

Convener of the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, Yunusa Yau, has called for urgent electoral reforms ahead of the 2027 election.

Speaking during an appearance on Arise News, Yau also argued that only credible and non-partisan individuals should be screened for the position of Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

He insisted that only individuals who can say the truth to power should be considered for the position.

Yau said, “Getting the electoral act to be amended is one leg of the conduct of the election. Getting credible people, non-partisans, to be at the head of this is also another leg. Without both of these meeting what we call the threshold conditions, we will not be able to see the conduct of a free, fair, and credible election.

“We need somebody that has the courage to stand and say the truth against power. We need somebody who is transparent and not a member of a political party in the night and in the day a member of a national electoral commission.”

Yau emphasised that competence, courage, and integrity, rather than academic titles, should be the deciding factors in choosing Nigeria’s next electoral umpire.

“It doesn’t matter whether he’s a professor or a medical doctor or a bureaucrat. What is needed is that we need somebody with competence that has been demonstrated in past engagement.”

He stressed that the Senate must not repeat past mistakes where confirmations were rushed without adequate public scrutiny, warning that the credibility of INEC’s leadership will shape the integrity of future elections.

Yau said, “That is why we want an open process of screening of candidates who are nominated for the position of national commissioners and, of course, the chairman of INEC.

“We want people who know them, people who have engaged with them, people who have interacted with them, people who know them to be able to say, I know this person, I can vouch for this or that. I know he belongs to a political association or political party, you know, so that we don’t go into a process in which somebody who had been partisan, who had been a member of a political party is appointed to do these things. You know, that would compromise the process.”