The nomination of one Vincent Gisaor for the membership of the Benue State Independent Electoral Commission has been rejected by the Benue State House of Assembly.
Gisaor, who was rejected on Thursday was nominated by the state governor, Hyacinth Alia, for the role.
Gisaor, who is one of the eight nominees submitted for screening a few days ago, was rejected by members of the Assembly for allegedly insulting the Tiv tribe via a post on his Facebook page.
During the plenary session, the lawmaker representing Konshisha State Constituency, Cephas Dyako, called the Assembly’s attention to a derogatory Facebook post made by Gisaor.
Dyako pointed out that the nominee, in the Facebook post, made derogatory remarks about the entire Tiv ethnic group in the state.
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Dyako told the House that, “Mr Gisaor said in Tiv dialect ‘your nyash’ to all the Tiv people in his post, which I find very derogatory from a person of his standing.”
Dyako said one person who commented on Gisaor’s Facebook post advised him to delete the post and apologise but he refused to do so.
When asked to defend himself, the nominee explained that he met an elderly woman during a fight between the Yarev and Ikparev people of Tyo-mu in Makurdi and it was the woman who insulted the Tiv people while talking to him.
“I was merely quoting the woman but the recording I made of the woman’s reply to me when I asked what caused the fight, unfortunately, got deleted from the post,” Gisaor stated.
However, the lawmakers refused to buy Gisaor’s explanation as they all agreed that the nominee was not fit to hold such a public office and urged the House not to confirm his nomination.
Ruling, the Speaker, Hyacinth Dajoh, said the nominee never quoted anyone while making the post, so it was assumed that it was his opinion.
The Speaker, therefore, asked the governor to nominate another person in place of Gisaor.
