Tobi Adebayo
The Senate has rejected the nomination of Lauretta Onochie, an aide to President Muhammadu Buhari, as a Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
This comes after the report by the Senate Committee on INEC said Onochie’s nomination violates the Federal Character principles.
The Chairman of the committee, Senator Kabiru Gaya, while giving the report stated that there was already an INEC Commissioner, May Agbamuche-Mbu, from Onochie’s zone.
Gaya cited Section 14 (1) 3 of the Constitution which states that “The composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the Federal Character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few states or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that government or in any of its agencies.”
Recall that Onochie’s nomination had attracted criticisms over an accusation that she was a card-carrying member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
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Onochie, however, denied the accusation and said that she ceased being an APC member since 2019.
She stated that she was invited from the United Kingdom to work for President Muhammadu Buhari.
“Distinguished members of the Committee, I am aware of the numerous petitions against me, particularly on the current INEC Commissioner. The woman is from Delta State where I also come from, but she is married to a Cross River man and she is representing Cross River and not Delta.
“Since the 2019 elections, I have removed myself from active politics and even in the ongoing APC membership drive, I didn’t register, and currently, I am not a member of any political party,” she said.
