Senate screens Buhari’s aide, Onochie, 5 others as INEC Commissioners

The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, on Wednesday, requested the Committee of the Independent National Electoral Commission to screen for confirmation, the appointments of Ms. Lauretta Onochie, and five others as INEC Commissioners.

The development came eight months after President Muhammadu Buhari sent the list of the nominees to the Senate for screening.

It was gathered that protests among the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members in the red chamber stopped the screening process as the opposition federal lawmakers were stated to have accused Onochie, who is currently a presidential spokesperson, of pointlessly casting denigrations on their party.

They also blamed the notion of making Onochie, a card-carrying member of the All Progressives Congress as an INEC Commissioner to represent Delta State on the board of the commission.

Other names on the list are, Prof. Muhammad Kallah (Katsina); Prof. Kunle Ajayi (Ekiti); Saidu Ahmad (Jigawa); Prof. Sani Adam (North- Central); and Dr Baba Bila (North-East).

The Senate INEC panel, which has Senator Kabiru Gaya as Chairman, has four weeks to complete the screening and report back to the red chamber at plenary.