Wike’s cousin assumes office as INEC commissioner in Akwa Ibom

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has redeployed Anugbum Onuoha, a former aide and cousin to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, as the new Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Akwa Ibom State.

In a post on its verified Facebook and X pages, INEC office in Akwa Ibom, announced the change of baton, stating that the outgoing REC, Obo Effanga, handed over to Mr Onuoha at the commission’s state headquarters in Uyo on 17 April.

Photographs accompanying the post showed Mr Effanga and Mr Onuoha during the handover event.

Mr Onuoha, a professor of property and secured credit law, was previously the REC in Edo State where he supervised the 2024 governorship election. Mr Effanga, who had served in Akwa Ibom since 2025, will now take charge of INEC affairs in Edo in what appears to be a routine administrative redeployment.

Although the INEC headquarters in Abuja had yet to publish details of the redeployment on its official website or social media platforms, transfers of RECs remain a common practice in the commission’s internal administration. INEC is yet to update the database of the states each REC is serving.

Mr Onuoha, who once served as a special adviser on lands and survey to the Rivers State Government under Mr Wike, was among the 10 RECs appointed by President Bola Tinubu in 2023.

His nomination, along with other recommendations (RECs), drew public criticism at the time after concerns were raised over the alleged partisanship of some appointees.

He also previously served as commissioner for legal and political parties monitoring at the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) in 2007, during the administration of former Governor Rotimi Amaechi.

After serving under Mr Wike, he was later elevated to the traditional leadership rank in Rumuepirikom, Wike’s hometown in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State.

Mr Onuoha’s close political and family ties with Mr Wike have occasionally stirred controversy around his posting within INEC.

Responding to past calls from opposition parties in Edo for his removal before the Edo 2024 elections, he insisted that the structure of the electoral commission limits the influence of individual commissioners to manipulate elections.

“Even if you remove me, I will go to another state,” he was quoted as saying at the time. “I am not afraid of being removed. My conscience is alive and every staff member of the commission knows this.”

With his assumption of duty in Akwa Ibom, Mr Onuoha now becomes the commission’s principal electoral officer in a state that has consistently drawn attention for its fiercely contested elections.