JUST IN… Secondus, Elumelu, Abaribe, others, protest nomination of Lauretta Onochie at National Assembly

Top members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Wednesday staged a protest at the National Assembly complex over the nomination of presidential media aide, Lauretta Onochie, as a Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The protest which kicked off at 1pm, was led by National Chairman of the party, Uche Secondus, Enyinnaya Abaribe, the Senator representing Abia-South Senatorial District of Abia State in the Senate, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu, representing Aniocha North/Aniocha South/Oshimili North/Oshimili South constituency of Delta State in the House of Representatives, and other senior members of the party.

The nomination of Onochie by President Muhammadu Buhari has led to a series of criticism by the opposition and many Nigerians who see it as an imposition of his aide on the electoral body which is supposed to be independent.

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Onochie, who hails from Delta State, is a registered member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and a staunch supporter of Buhari and many belive her nomination to be a violation of Section 14(2a) of the Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, which states that “a member of the commission shall be non-partisan and a person of unquestionable integrity.”

While addressing newsmen during the protest, Scondus said:

“We are here to make the final point of total rejection of Lauretta Onochie. She must be totally rejected by the Senate and National Assembly.

“She is not only partisan but will do the bidding of the APC and we are against it.

“We don’t need the INEC to be polluted. She will be representing only one party called APC and that can cause a lot of problems for our country.

“We have come for this peaceful protest that the National Assembly should reject her.”

By Isaac Dachen

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