I’ve No Partisanship In My Blood’ Says Onochie, Buhari’s Aide Nominated As INEC Commissioner

Lauretta Onochie, aide to President Muhammadu Buhari on social media, has claimed that partisan politics is not in her blood.

Onochie, a card-carrying member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said this on Thursday, in an opening remarks during her screening as Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) commissioner nominee by the senate committee on INEC.

At the screening, Onochie confessed that she had seen petitions against her nomination by members of the APC.

The presidential aide said she follows due process in all she does.

“I’ve no partisanship in my blood. I have seen many petitions against my nomination not only from the PDP, but also from some APC members,” she said.

I’m not partisan. They know. It is about the law. No one has any reason to fear for my nomination as INEC commissioner representing Delta. As far as I’m concerned, I’m madam due process. That’s why all the attacks. I follow due process, I follow the law.”

The screening is still ongoing as of the time of filing this report.

The President had on October 12, 2020, nominated Onochie (Delta), Professor Muhammad Sani Kallah (Katsina), Professor Kunle Cornelius Ajayi (Ekiti), Saidu Babura Ahmad (Jigawa), Prof. Sani Muhammad Adam (north central) and Dr. Baba Bila (north east) as national commissioners of INEC.

Onochie’s nomination had sparked an outrage from Nigerians, PDP lawmakers and civil society groups, who argued that she is “too partisan” to be a commissioner in an important institution like INEC.

Leaders of the PDP staged a peaceful protest last week at the national assembly to demand the rejection of Onochie as INEC commissioner.