Lauretta Onochie has denied membership of any political party in Nigeria just as she has been nominated as a National Commissioner for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The Street Journal had earlier reported that President Muhammadu Buhari nominated Onochie to represent Delta in the commission in October 2020.
While being screened by the Senate Committee on INEC on Thursday, Onochie who serves as a Senior Special Assistant to the President denied links with all the registered political parties in the country.
Her nomination caused outrage with petitions from opposition parties and civil society organizations, accusing her of being involved in partisan politics.
The petitioners had alleged that her nomination negated sections of the 1999 Constitution and Federal Character principles
However, responding to the petitions Onochie said:
“Since 2019 when President Muhammadu won a second term, I have removed myself from anything political. I was not even anticipating myself to be here defending my nomination to INEC.
“Since 2019, I have not had anything to do with any political organization in this country. Not even the Buhari Support Organisation; I have not had anything to do with them since 2019.
“When APC decided to do the revalidation of their membership, I did not take part in that exercise, so, as I am sitting down here, I am not a member of any political party in this country.”
On the issue of having two persons nominated from Delta as INEC national commissioners, Onochie said:
“I am from Delta, Mrs May Agbamuche Mbu is also from Delta but married to someone from Cross River and she was nominated to represent Cross River, not Delta.”
On her capacity to be impartial, if confirmed, Onochie said she had learned to stand with the law, policies, due process, and procedures, having worked as a lecturer, a trainer of people with learning difficulties who had suffered several kinds of partiality and discrimination.
Following her affirmation that she was not a member of any political party, Sen. Michael Opeyemi (APC-Ekiti) suggested that the nominee be put on oath on the statement credited to her at the screening.
Senators Ike Ekweremadu (PDP-Enugu) and Seriaki Dickson (PDP-Bayelsa), however, objected to her being put under oath, noting that it was not in line with Senate rules.
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