Eight months after her confirmation was stalled following protest by Nigerians, Senate President Ahmad Lawan has asked the committee on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to screen Lauretta Onochie, a presidential aide, as commissioner of the electoral body.
Onochie is the aide on social media to Buhari, who defends him passionately on the social media. The INEC job requires a nonpartisan person. By her job, Onochie is partisan.
Onochie’s nomination and that of Muhammad Kallah, Kunle Ajayi, Saidu Ahmad, Sani Adam and Baba Bila were referred to the INEC panel after Yahaya Abdullahi, senate leader, moved a motion.
Senate Minority Leader, Eyinnaya Abaribe, protested the nomination, before seconding the motion as the tradition demands.
“In seconding this motion, we had dealt with the matter of renomination of Lauretta Onochie,” he said.
“We feel surprised that that same name has resurfaced not as a national commissioner but as a Delta state commissioner, Mr President, reluctantly, I second the motion.”
Lawan said the nominees are not state commissioners but national.
He then gave the INEC committee two weeks to report back on the nominations.
