The Nigerian Senate has rejected the nomination of President Muhammadu Buhari’s aide, Lauretta Onochie as a National Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The decision was taken on Tuesday, July 13 as the Senate resumed its sitting.
It came after a report by the senate committee on INEC, in which it was stated that her nomination breached federal character principle was considered.
The Chairman of the Committee, Kabir Gaya who cited Section 14 (1) 3 of the constitution, pointed out that someone from her zone is already a commissioner.
Recall that Onochie denied membership of All Progressives Congress (APC), three times when she appeared before the Senate Committee on INEC for screening last Thursday.
An old tweet has now emerged, indicating that Onochie supported and promoted the party in 2020, contrary to her claim that she quitted partisan politics in 2019.
She was nominated for the position by President Buhari in October 2020.
But Onochie, who said she had been out of politics since 2019, described herself as “madam due process.”
“I have seen the petitions against me, but I stand for justice and fairness, nobody has anything to fear. I am madam due process and this is the reason behind my attacks. I follow the law and due process.
“Since Buhari was elected as president for the second term, I have removed myself from everything about politics. Since 2019, I don’t have anything to do with politics. As I am sitting down here, I am not a member of any political party in this country,” she told the panel.
But Onochie’s claim has been found to be false as a tweet by the presidential aide on June 24, 2020 shows she promoted the APC, stating that the party was going through a growth process.
Onochie, via her verifiable twitter handle, @Laurestar, tweeted, “There is definitely an APC e-NEC meeting tomorrow.”
