Chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Wednesday stormed the National Assembly in protest over the nomination of Lauretta Onochie by President Muhammadu Buhari as a National Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) representing the South-South.
The chieftains who were led by its National Chairman Uche Secondus, demanded that Onochie’s nomination be rejected.
Secondus insisted that Onochie’s nomination contravened provisions of the constitution which forbid the nomination of card-carrying members of political offices for the office, ICIR reports.
“We are here protesting today to make the final point of total rejection of Lauretta Onochie, that she must be totally rejected by the Senate and National Assembly, she is partisan.
“We don’t need INEC to be polluted. If she’s cleared, then she will be representing one party called APC (All Progressives Congress) and that can cause a lot of problems for our country,” Secondus said.
Onochie, who is a card-carrying member of the ruling APC and a spokesperson of the president, was nominated alongside five other persons in October 2020.
Her nomination has been opposed by civil society organisations, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and several Nigerians on social media.
Eight months after Onochie’s nomination, Ahmad Lawan, Senate President, has asked the Senate Committee on INEC to commence the process for her confirmation.
