President Muhammadu Buhari has nominated Lauretta Onochie as the substantive Chairman of the Niger Delta Development Board (NDDC).
The President also appointed 15 other nominees as members of the board.
The appointments were contained in a letter to the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, who read it out at the plenary on Wednesday.
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The appointments came after Senate had confirmed appointments of but were turned down for the purpose of the commission conducting forensic audit which never saw light of the day leading to a trajectory appointments and removal of interim sole administrators for the commission.
Ms Onochie, currently a special assistant to the president on new media, was enmeshed in a controversial appointment into Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in 2020.
However, she was appointed by Mr Buhari as an INEC commissioner to represent Delta State.
Individuals, civic groups and opposition parties petitioned, and staged protests, calling on the Senate to reject her appointment because she is partisan and has openly campaigned for All Progressives Congress (APC).
Although she told the Senate committee on INEC that she quit politics in 2019 and that she was no longer partisan – a claim which turned out to be false, she was rejected by the Senate in July.
The basis further rejection was however not her partisanship. The Senate had said her appointment was rejected because “it breaches the federal character principle.”
“In the case of Ms Onochie’s…the Senate may wish to recall that in 2016, the Senate based on the recommendation of its INEC Committee confirmed Barr. May Agbamuche-Mbu from Delta State as a National Commissioner in INEC, who is still serving,” Kabiru Gaya, chairman of the INEC committee had explained.
“Confirming the nomination of Ms. Lauretta Onochie from the same Delta State will be a violation of the Federal Character Principle.
“Therefore, based on the provisions of Section 14(3) of the Constitution…and in order for the Committee and the Senate to achieve fairness to other states and political zones in the county, the Committee is unable to recommend Ms. Lauretta Onochie for confirmation as a National Electoral Commissioner for INEC but would rather recommend to the Senate to request that the President makes another nomination.”
Some of the other nominees for the NDDC board are Dimgba Erugba – State representative (Abia, South East), Ene Wilcox (Akwa Ibom, State Representative, South South ), Pius Odudu (Edo, South South), Gbenga Odegba (South West, Ondo) and Anthony Ekene (South East, Imo state).
Others are Onyekachi Dimgba (Rivers State South South), Mohammed Abubakar(Zonal Representative, Nasarawa), Tallen Mamma, (North East Representative, Adamawa), Sodique Sani (North West, Zonal Representative), Samuel Ibukun (MD), Charles Airhiavbere, (Executive of Finance) and Charles Ogunmola (Executive Director Project, South West).
The Senate is yet to screen and approve the NDDC’s nominees.
