BREAKING: Senate screens Lauretta Onochie, five others as INEC commissioners despite public outcry

On Wednesday, Senate President Ahmad Lawan directed that the appointments of Ms. Lauretta Onochie and five other INEC commissioners be screened for confirmation by the Committee on the Independent National Electoral Commission.

The announcement occurred eight months after President Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) handed the list of nominees to the Senate for consideration.

Protests among members of the Peoples Democratic Party in the red chamber were claimed to have delayed the screening process, with the opposition federal lawmakers accusing Onochie, who is now a presidential spokesperson, of unnecessarily casting aspersions on their party.

They also faulted the idea 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.

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

Senator Kabiru Gaya, who chairs the Senate INEC panel, has four weeks to complete the screening and report back to the red chamber in plenary.

Details later…