Secondus Leads Protest To NASS Over Buhari’s Nomination Of Aide As INEC Commissioner

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national chairman, Uche Secondus, has led a protest to the National Assembly over the nomination of a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as National Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

President Muhammadu Buhari had sought the Senate’s confirmation of Onochie, who is his personal assistant on social media, as a commissioner of the electoral body.

THE WHISTLER reported how the president’s nomination of Onochie had sparked widespread criticism.

The Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room had rejected the nomination and described Onochie as “a known partisan supporter of Buhari”.

While noting that provisions in the 1999 Constitution forbids a partisan politician as a member of INEC, the group had stressed that it was important that “the composition of INEC is transparently non-partisan and independent of partisan political manipulation.”

Meanwhile, the PDP leaders’ protest came three weeks after the Senate asked its committee on INEC to screen Onochie and five other nominees for possible confirmation.