Senate rejects Lauretta Onochie as INEC commissioner

The senate has rejected the nominatio of Lauretta Onochie, presidential aide, as a commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The upper legislative chamber rejected her appointment after Kabiru Gaya, chairman of the INEC committee, presented a report in plenary.

Onochie was nominated for the job by President Muhammadu Buhari in October 2020.

Recall that a coalition of civil society organisations (CSOs) had filed a suit  challenging Senate’s “referral, consideration, screening and possible confirmation” of Ms Onochie for the position on the grounds that she is “a well-known card-carrying member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and currently serving as the Personal Assistant on Social Media to President Buhari.

 The Senate however, had defied protests from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, civil society groups, others and screened Onochie to the chargain of all Nigerians; even when she denied being a member of the ruling APC during the screening; a statement which was later proven to be untrue.

However NewsWireNGR gathered that while presenting the report in plenary on Tuesday, Kabiru Gaya said Onochie was disqualified on federal character principles, adding that there is currently a serving commissioner from Delta state, where Onochie hails from.