By Ebitonye Akpodigha
President Muhammadu Buhari has been urged to immediately nominate suitably qualified persons to fill the vacant positions at Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in line with the Constitution to enhance the capacity of the Commission to conduct conclusive elections.
This appeal was made by the Senate at the plenary on Tuesday September 27, 2016.
The Senate made the call in a motion sponsored by Senator Ike Ekweremadu, the Deputy Senate President and Senator Ali Ndume, the Senate leader on inclusive elections in the country.
The lawmakers noted with deep concern that at least 20 States of the federation have no Electoral Commissioners contrary to section 14 (2) of the third schedule of the 1999 constitution as amended.
They further noted that INEC cannot function optimally without the full complement of members that will superintend the activities of their personnel.
Furthermore, they express worry that the trend has left both chambers and some States Houses of Assembly without the full complement of their membership while millions of Nigerians are left without representatives for a long period of time.
The Senators accordingly called on INEC to immediately conclude all pending rerun elections in the country and constitute an ad hoc committee to hold a public hearing to review the performance of the Commission in the past one year.
Modupe Gbadeyanka 
Adedapo Adesanya