The Senate has confirmed the appointment of S former chief of Staff to the Senate president Etekarnba Umoren has been confirmed as the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Akwa Ibom State.
The Senate made the confirmation of Umoren as well as the appointment of Mr Shaakaa Chira as the Auditor-General for the Federation on Wednesday.
Umoren who served as Senate President Godswill Akpabio during his time as Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, was also a prominent member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the stste.
Following Umoren’s appointment, some groups and civic rights activists kicked against it and asked President Bola Tinubu to revoke it.
But Tinubu asked the Senate to confirm Umoren and other nominees.
Tinubu, in the letter, said his request for Senate confirmation of the nominees was in compliance with the constitutional provisions.
Other RECS confirmed are Isah Shaka Ehimeakne (Edo), Oluwatoyin Babalola (Ekiti), Abubakar Ahmed Ma’aji (Gombe), Shehu Wahab (Kwara), Aminu Kasimi Idris (Nasarawa), and Mohammed Abubakar Sadiq (Niger).
The remaining three nominees from Rivers, Zamfara and Lagos, Anugbum Onuoha, Abubakar Fawa Dambo and Bunmi Omoseyindemi were absent.
The Senate screened the nominees before their confirmation on the floor of the Senate Wednesday.
The RECs are to serve a five-year term each, and can only be removed by the president and a two-thirds vote from the National Assembly.
The Senate also approved the nomination of seven persons for appointment as Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs).
