Group condemns Onochie’s appointment as INEC commissioner
A pro-democracy group, Concerned Nigerians, has described President Muhammadu Buhari’s appointment of his Personal Assistant on Social Media, Lauretta Onochie, as a National Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as a reprehensible attempt to destroy the integrity and independence of Nigeria’s electoral umpire.
The group maintained that Onochie’s appointment violates Paragraph 14, Part 1 of the Third Schedule to the Constitution as amended by Section 30, Act No 1 of 2010, which states that a member of the INEC “shall be non-partisan”.
The convener of the group, Comrade Deji Adeyanju, in a statement, said: “This constitutional provision prohibits a card-carrying member of a registered political party or a well-known supporter of a particular political party from being appointed as a member of the INEC.
“Her appointment is unconstitutional, illegal, null and void and unacceptable to the generality of the Nigerian people. We appeal to you to pressure President Buhari to rescind this appoint as it is capable of reversing the gains made in our electoral process.”
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