The Senate on Tuesday rejected the nomination of Lauretta Onochie as an Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) National Commissioner.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on INEC, Kabiru Gaya, in his report, said Onochie did not satisfy the provisions of the federal character principles.
Her nomination generated nation outcry, especially from members of the opposition and civil society organisations who claim she is a card-carrying member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Some saw the very act of nominating her for a post on the INEC as an indication of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s poor attitude towards electoral integrity after he had benefitted from improving elections in the country by a win over an incumbent in 2015.
Former INEC Chairman, Attahiru Jega, wasalso also kicked against the appointment.
“This kind of controversy is really avoidable. Any person who generated such a controversy, the appointing authorities should be careful because you don’t want to appoint anybody that can raise suspicions or doubts or can lead to a loss of trust of the electoral management body,” he said on Monday on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
President Muhammadu Buhari had written to the Senate in October 2020, to confirm the appointment of Onochie who is currently his media aide on Social Media, and three others as Commissioners of INEC.
