Politics
Onochie: A Litmus Test For The Senate
In recent times, not many issues in the public domain have raised more opprobrium, vehemence, and even angst and disgust, amongst diverse and varied competent, well-meaning and very critical stakeholder groups, individuals and organisations in the electoral process than President Muhammadu Buhari’s nomination of Ms Lauretta Onochie as federal commissioner in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to the Senate for confirmation.
On Wednesday, June 9, the senate president, Ahmad Lawan, at plenary, referred President Buhari’s request to confirm Prof. Muhammad Sani Kallah (Katsina Laureetta Onochie (Delta); Prof. 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 to its committee on INEC for screening. The committee was given two weeks to conclude its assignment and report back to plenary on the request that was first sent to the senate in October, last year.
While it is not clear whether the committee delayed work on the assignment, it is manifestly evident that the committee has taken more time than was allotted and lay its report before the upper legislative chamber in plenary for final debate and confirmation.
However, there has been a floodgate of reactions from a wide range of the Nigerian public over the appearance of the name of Ms Onochie on the list of those to be considered at all. The opposition and rejection of Ms Onochie began from the floor of the senate itself when the Minority Leader, Senator Enyinaya Abaribe, whose statutory function it was to second the motion moved by the Majority Leader, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi, declared his reluctance in seconding the motion on account of the presence of the name of Ms Onochie.
Those who see the appointment of the Delta State born Ms Onochie as inappropriate and therefore unfit for the office cite the fact that the person in question is already a political office holder as the Special Assistant to the President on Social Media. To this, they add that she is also strongly believed to be a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), in its reaction to the issue, registered its objection to the nomination and implored the senate to reject Ms Onochie as an officer of INEC. Idayat Hassan, Director of CDD, said in a statement that Ms Onochie’s appointment to serve in such a non partisan portfolio could jeopardise Nigeria’s democratic principles if allowed by the senate.
“First, Ms Onochie is from Delta State, the same state from which Barrister May Agbamuche-Mbu, a current national commissioner, hails. Barrister Agbamuche-Mbu’s tenure is not ending until December 2021″, the statement said, adding that “Also, Mr Mike Igini, the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Akwa Ibom State, hails from the same state and his tenure will end in August 2022. Neither Mrs Agbamuche-Mbu nor Mike Igini has been removed from office”.
Consequently, the CDD argued that Ms. Onochie’s consideration for confirmation would not only contravene the Federal Character principle of the 1999 constitution, but as well constitute inequity and an unfair treatment of the other South-South states who are also qualified to be appointed into INEC.
According to the CDD, “ Secondly, Ms Onochie does not hide her partisan support for the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) and she is likely a card-carrying member of the party.
“It is also important to realise that her partisanship is the reason she was appointed to her current role as an aide to President Muhammadu Buhari on Social Media.
“This, therefore, precludes her from being appointed into INEC. Section 156 (1)_ and item F, Paragraph 14 of the Third Schedule of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, forbid an appointee to INEC to be a political party member or a partisan individual.
“There is no doubt that Ms Onochie will continue to protect the interest of the APC if confirmed by the Senate. Moreover, CDD believes strongly that she will represent political baggage that could damage the commission’s legitimacy. Any election she oversees will likely be subjected to multiple litigations, even in a genuine win by the APC and other parties”, the organization said among others.
On Tuesday this week, a coalition of nine civil society organisations took their opposition to Ms Onochie’s appointment a notch further by instituting a legal action against President Buhari, the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), the Senate and Kabiru Gaya, chairman of theSsenate committee on INEC.
The CSOs which include the International Press Centre, Centre for Citizens with Disability, Nigerian women Trust fund, Incorporated Trustees of Albino Foundation, Incorporated Trustees of Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, Incorporated Trustees of Peering Advocacy and Advancement Centre in Africa, Incorporated Trustees of Centre for Media and Society and Incorporated Trustees of YIAGA Africa Initiative are praying the court to declare the nomination of Ms Onochie as “wrongful, illegal, null and void and same nullified”.
In the suit filed before a Federal High Court in Abuja and marked FHC/ABJ/CS/604/2021, the CSOs are asking the court to determine whether the president “can nominate a card-carrying member or members of his political party or any other political party in Nigeria, as a national electoral commissioner for the Independent National Electoral Commission” contrary to Sections 14 (29), 14 (3), 14 (36), 14 (4) and Section 154 (1) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended ).
Among other reliefs, the applicants are asking the court for an order of perpetual injunction “restraining the 3rd and 4th defendants (the Senate and Kabiru Gaya) from referring, considering, screening, deliberating or confirming the nomination of Ms Lauretta Onochie”.
In the affidavits deposed to by the applicants in support of the originating summons, the CSOs insisted that “Onochie cannot be a fair and unbiased umpire to serve in the Independent National Electoral Commission” owing to her close working relationship with President Buhari and his administration.
However, in a move that appeared to be intended to undercut the progress of the case, and in brazen indifference to the massive and overwhelming outpouring of stiff, strident and unrelenting rejection of the appointment of Ms Onochie, the senate, yesterday, began the screening of the six nominations into INEC national commissionership position including the embattled presidential aide.
If, at the end of the day, Ms Onochie gets the nod of the APC dominated red chamber, there are many Nigerians who will not only feel disappointed but also register the 9th Senate as being there to serve the interest of President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC as against the more sacred interest of the Nigerian people and that of the constitution.
Yet, even if the senate rejects the nomination, Nigerians will not stop to question the rationale, the wisdom and what the president intended to achieve by his preference for such a defective, obnoxious offensive, provocative and embarrassing choice. The only way to pacify Nigerians and assure them that the entire Onochie saga was not plotted to take them for granted is for the president to render an unreserved apology to his compatriots.
By: Opaka Dokubo
Politics
Alia Denies Calling For Ganduje’s Resignation
Governor of Benue State, Hyacinth Alia, has denied calling for the resignation of the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje.
This was contained in a press statement issued on Wednesday in Makurdi by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Mr Tersoo Kula.
The Tide source reports that the CPS was reacting to some media reports that the governor had called for the resignation of the APC national chairman.
Kula said the governor at no time called for the resignation of the APC national chairman.
He said the governor enjoyed a good relationship with the Ganduje-led leadership of the APC.
“It is imperative to clarify that at no point did Governor Alia assembled, attended and sent a representative or participated in any meeting to discuss the removal or call for resignation of Alhaji. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
“The Benue State governor remains firm in his support and allegiance to the leadership of the National Working Committee of the APC, under the leadership of Alhaji Ganduje.
“Furthermore, at no point, whether publicly or privately, has the governor advocated or expressed any desire for the resignation of the national party chairman”, he said.
He said the governor was focused on positively changing the fortunes of the state.
“He is alive to his responsibilities as the leader of APC in Benue State and is doing everything legitimate to reposition the party for future victories,” Kula said.
Politics
LP Re-Elects Abure As National Chairman
The embattled national chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Julius Abure, has been re-elected for a second term by a unanimous affirmation of delegates despite the protests by the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
The Chairman of the National Convention and Deputy Governor of Abia State, Mr. Ikechukwu Emetu declared him the winner during the party’s national convention that held in Nnewi, Anambra State, on Wednesday.
Other serving officers of the party were also returned unopposed.
Recall that the NLC had called for Abure’s resignation as party chairman and the immediate constitution of a caretaker transition committee to organize an all-inclusive national convention for the party.
Meanwhile, a factional chairman of the Labour Party in Anambra State, Mr Peter Okoye has boasted that the Nnewi national convention will not stand.
Describing the convention as a sham, Okoye said: “This is not a convention. We are on top of the matter. It’s purely illegal.
“There was no ward congress, no local government congress, no state congress, and now who and who are the elected delegates that are electing the National Working Committee, NWC, members?
“The NLC was not there, TUC was not there, the owners of the party and members of the NEC and BOT members were not there too. So, who is holding the convention?”
Politics
Suswam Blames External Forces For Problems In PDP
Former Governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam, has said that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is being undermined by external forces which have rendered the party ineffective as a viable opposition.
Senator Suswam stated this during a live television interview on Wednesday.
He lamented that the party had since after the 2023 general elections failed to live up to expectations of Nigerians as a viable opposition.
Senator Suswam, who blamed the current PDP leadership for the ineffective state of the largest opposition party in the country, said unless there is an overhaul of its leadership, the party would “go nowhere” because the current leadership has lost focus.
He said, “I think there are subterranean forces inferring in the party and they are determining what is going on in the party. And the leadership is acquiescing to it.
“Subterranean suggests that people are trying to control the party from the outside. They are controlling the party from the outside and they are keeping the party in a comatose state.”
The Benue senator accused the party of refusing to call a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting to help resolve some of the issues arising in the party.
He regretted the inability of the party to resolve the fallout of the 2022 presidential primary election which saw a group of five governors work against the party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 presidential election.
He added that the inability of the Iliya Damagum-led leadership to discipline erring party members worsened the situation.
Senator Suswam said it was wrong for the party not to have sanctioned the G-5 governors and their allies who openly declared that they would remain in the party and work against its interest.
“They were not sanctioned which made others become emboldened to act anyway they wanted. PDP has been weakened since then,” he said.
He said no serious organisation does that, stressing that, “A serious organisation would apply sanctions” based on the laid down rules as contained in its constitution.
He further accused the acting national chairman of the party, Ambassador Iliya Damagum, of occupying the position which belongs to the North-Central zone, following the removal of the substantive chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, who hails from the zone.
Amb. Damagum, who was the Deputy National Chairman (North), hails from the North-East zone but was, as permitted by the party’s constitution, made acting chairman after Ayu’s removal by a court order.
The party’s law provides that the deputy chairman from the same region as the chairman takes over in the event of the latter’s removal from office.
Senator Suswam further lamented that “PDP is comatose now, and nothing can happen now,” adding that it was regrettable that politicians are now preferring to hold talks with smaller parties and not the PDP.
Noting that the PDP was at the precipice, Senator Suswam said, “Until we provide that leadership, PDP will not be a viable platform. We need to overhaul the leadership of the party. There is no pretence about it, everybody in PDP knows it. Without discipline and reconciliation, the party goes nowhere.”
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