Jega kicks against Onochie as INEC Commissioner

An ex-Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, has cautioned the Senate against confirming the appointment of a presidential aide, Lauretta Onochie, as INEC National Commissioner to avoid dispute.

Jega also disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari could pull out Onochie’s nomination and replace her with another female from her state, stating that there are several other qualified women for the job.

The previous INEC Chairman made this known while featuring on Sunday Politics, a current affairs programme on Channels Television monitored by Top Naija, on Sunday night.

Last week Thursday, the Senate started the process of screening Onochie and five others as INEC Commissioners.

Onochie denied being a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) since 2019 during her screening by the Senate Committee on INEC.

However, Jega said, “This kind of controversy is really avoidable. Any person who generated such a controversy; the appointing authorities should be careful because you don’t want to appoint anybody that can raise suspicions or doubts or can lead to a loss of trust of the electoral management body.”

He urged the lawmakers to apply the laws concerning the matter, so as to avoid a circumstance whereby elections she participates in may be seen as being partial.