Buhari, Please Withdraw Onochie’s Nomination
Another of President Buhari’s shenanigans cropped up early this week, with his nomination of Ms. Lauretta Onochie, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Social Media as National Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) representing the South-South. Onochie is a known partisan supporter of Buhari and his ruling party APC. The biggest problem with this government is its disdain for the laws of our land. Buhari must learn to respect the Constitution he swore to protect.
Our President can’t claim to be unaware that the Constitution of Nigeria prohibits appointment of partisan people into INEC. Well, let me remind him of Paragraph 14, Part 1 of the Third Schedule to the 1999 Constitution as amended by Section 30, Act No 1 of 2010, which states: “A member of the Independent National
Electoral Commission shall be non-partisan.” There is no ambiguity here. Supporters and cohorts of political parties are not qualified to be INEC commissioners.
Lauretta is constitutionally disqualified from the membership of INEC. So, how come this unrepentant fan of the APC, who consistently attacks other political parties, was nominated? What is Buhari trying to achieve? Our President must immediately withdraw the nomination of Lauretta in the interest of the whole country. This should supersede whatever personal interest that influenced her nomination. The call on the Senate to stop this woman from contaminating INEC may not yield any result. This rubberstamp legislature is ready to stamp anything from Buhari. So, we should mount pressure on Buhari to do the needful.