The Senate Adhoc Committee on the Emergency Rule in Rivers State has begun screening nominees for the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC), and controversy has already surfaced surrounding the nomination of Michael Odey as chairman of the electoral body.
Odey, who hails from Cross River State, faced tough questions from the screening panel, chaired by Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele.
His non-indigene status was a central point of debate, especially considering that the Sole Administrator currently overseeing Rivers State, Ibok Ekwe Ibas, is also from Cross River.
Defending his nomination, Odey stated that no legal barrier exists preventing someone from outside Rivers State from leading the electoral commission.
“With utmost respect, I have gone through the RSIEC’s enabling law, and there is nothing that precludes the appointment of anybody outside the state as chairman of the electoral management body,” he explained.
Despite this clarification, Senator Bamidele voiced concern over the broader implications of such an appointment.
While acknowledging that the law may not explicitly prohibit it, he questioned whether the decision aligns with the spirit and expectations of state governance.
“We are also in possession of the law, so make it available to the committee because in my opinion, the Independent National Electoral Commission is about the Federal Republic of Nigeria. When we say State Independent Electoral Commission, it is about that state,” Bamidele remarked.
He further stressed the need to consider public sentiment and the precedents such appointments could set: “This is not a matter we are just going to gloss over. It has to be something we can defend. Even if the law does not prohibit such an appointment, we must ensure it is not repugnant to public conscience.”
The Senate committee is expected to revisit the provisions of the RSIEC law in order to assess whether nominating a non-indigene to such a position is legally and socially sustainable in the long term.
Other nominees who appeared before the panel for screening include Lezaasi Lenee Torbira, Arthur Nwafor, Godfrey Mbudiogha, Joyce Akaniwor, Olive A. Bruce, and Chidi Halliday.
