President Bola Tinubu has nominated four individuals for appointment as National Commissioners of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
themomentng reports that the President also nominated two persons as Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs).
According to a statement on Friday by presidential media aide Bayo Onanuga, President Tinubu nominated four new national commissioners and two new resident electoral commissioners to fill vacancies at the Independent National Electoral Commission created by expiring tenures.
He added that the Senate will scrutinise all the nominees.
The President reappointed Dr Bala Bila as the National Commissioner representing the Northeast.
President Tinubu urged the Senate to expedite the nominees’ confirmation in view of the forthcoming general elections next January.
Those nominated as National Commissioners are:
1. Professor Mustapha Aliu (North-West; replaces Professor Abdullahi Zuru)
2. Bashir Muhammed Umar (North-Central; replaces Professor Muhammad Adamu)
3. Mrs. Oluwatoyin Babalola (South-West; currently REC in Osun; replaces Professor Cornelius Ajayi)
4. Dr. Bala Bila (North-East; reappointed).
Those nominated by the President as Resident Electoral Commissioners are
1. Dr. Samuel Akinjide Akinleye (Ekiti State)
2. Zahradden Basiru Sanusi (Jigawa; replaces Professor Saidu Ahmed Babura)
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, has declared that algorithms will not decide the outcome of the 2027 General Elections.
He insisted that the will of the Nigerian people, expressed through the ballot, remains the sole determinant of who governs the country.
themomentng reports that Amupitan made the declaration while speaking at the Artificial Intelligence and Democracy Forum 2026 in Abuja, themed “Safeguarding the 2027 General Elections in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.”
He said technology, however sophisticated, must remain an instrument for serving human agency, institutional efficiency, and administrative transparency.
The INEC Chairman declared that “AI must remain servant, not master, of Nigerian democracy.”
