There’re PDP Members As INEC Commissioner, APC Replies Critics On Lauretta Onochie’s Nomination For INEC Job

The All Progressive Congress (APC) has reacted to the wide condemnation of President Muhammadu Buhari’s nomination of Lauretta Onochie, his social media aide, as a commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Femi Falana, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), are among the many that voice out against Onochie’s nomination for the INEC job.

But in a statement on Friday, Yekini Nabena, the APC Spokesperson, claimed that the main opposition PDP also has its members in key positions of the commission.

“President Muhammadu Buhari’s appointment of Lauretta Onochie as a National Electoral Commissioner for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been subject to rash, subjective, misplaced and selective criticism by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and some interest groups,” Nabena said.

“Perhaps the PDP needs to be reminded that one of its card-carrying members, Dr. Johnson Alalibo is the current Edo State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC).

“Alalibo who was also a former Deputy Whip in the Bayelsa state house of assembly has been an electoral asset to the PDP but that is an issue to be addressed another day.”

The ruling party Spokesperson further urged the senate to ignore “PDP’s grandstanding, cheap blackmail, baseless and subjective allegations of partisanship it is sponsoring against Ms Onochie”.

”For the PDP, Ms Onochie’s capacity and effectiveness as a public servant and senior social media professional amounts to partisanship,” he added.

“Since public service now equates ‘partisanship’ we invite the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to equally fault appointment of Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the current INEC Chairman who was the immediate-past Executive Secretary of the government’s Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) as well as the earlier stated Dr. Johnson Alalibo.

“We equally invite the PDP to query the ‘unquestionable integrity’ of brazen PDP apologists such as Festus Okoye, National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee of INEC; Mike Igini, resident electoral commissioner (REC) for Akwa Ibom State, among others.”