National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye
Tinubu declines renewal of Okoye’s tenure as INEC commissioner
President Bola Tinubu has declined renewing the tenure of National Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee, Barrister Festus Okoye.
Barr. Okoye’s five-year tenure at INEC has now ended, with a replacement already announced in the person of Sam Olugbadebo Olumekun.
Mr Olumekun was announced as Festus Okoye’s successor via the commission’s WhatsApp platform, Tuesday.
Okoye’s tenure, which began on July 25, 2018, as representative of the South-East geopolitical zone in the commission, formally came to an end on July 24, 2023.
While National Commissioners and Resident Electoral Commissioners hold a five-year tenure and are eligible for a second term of five years, Okoye’s tenure was not renewed by President Tinubu.
The process of appointing a new INEC Chairman and Commissioners involves nomination by the President, ratification by the Council of State, and confirmation by the Senate.
As of September 2022, Olumekun was the INEC National Commissioner in charge of the commission’s Election and Party Monitoring Committee.
Okoye has been at the centre of the storm which had trailed the proceedings at the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal (PEPT) in Abuja, as his comments had ben adopted as exhibits tendered by petitioners; Labour Party and candidate, Mr Peter Obi.
Okoye had weeks to the February 25, 2023 elections assured that INEC would adopt electronic transmission of results from the polling units to the collation centres immediately aftger the exercise. However, INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu and the commission’s counsel at the PEPT differed as they claimed the electoral umpire never gave such assurance to the electorate.
