PDP hails Onochie’s rejection, says it’s victory for Nigerians
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has commended the Senate for rejecting the nomination of Lauretta Onochie as a national commissioner of the IndependentNational Electoral Commission (INEC).
The party, in a statement, on Tuesday, described the rejection as a victory for Nigerians.
Ms Onochie, personal assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari, was on Tuesday rejected by the Senate, which said the appointment violated the federal character principle.
President Buhari nominated her in October 2020.
In a statement by its spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan, the opposition party described the rejection “as the triumph of the Nigerian people over the barefaced attempt by the Buhari led-APC administration to corrupt and hijack the commission ahead of 2023 elections.”
The party, which had led a protest to the National Assembly over the nomination, said the action of the Senate had not only saved the nation from a very serious crisis but also salvaged INEC and the entire Nigerian electoral process from a ruinous pollution that would have led to the collapse of the country’s democratic order.
“The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) describes the Senate’s rejection of President Muhammadu Buhari’s nomination of his aide and All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, Lauretta Onochie, as a national commissioner in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as the triumph of the Nigerian people over the barefaced attempt by the Buhari led-APCadministration to corrupt and hijack the commission ahead of 2023 elections.
“The PDP asserts that the rejection of Lauretta Onochie by Nigerians has saved the nation from a very serious crisis as well as salvaged INEC andthe entire Nigerian electoral process from a ruinous pollution that would have led to the collapse of our democratic order.
“The party asserts that Onochie’s vexatious nomination, in total affront to paragraph 14 of the 3rd schedule of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), was a very dangerous machination by the Buhari-led APC Presidency against our electoral process, in the attempt to subvert the will of the people in the 2023 elections.
“The APC, in spite of its shenanigans, is aware that it will have difficulties winning election at any level in a free, fair and credible election and as such it is determined to rig every process ahead of the 2023 elections.
“Our party, therefore, commends Nigerians including civil society organizations, the media as well as other political parties, for joining forces with the PDP in fighting for the sanctity of our electoral process by resisting Onochie’s nomination.
“The stiff resistance displayed by Nigerians across board, in repelling this vicious attempt to hijack and pollute the electoral commission, underscores their collective and unwavering determination to resist and kick out the APC in 2023, despite its shenanigans.
“The PDP urges Nigerians not to rest on their oars but to continue in this spirit in fighting for our democracy, particularly in further resisting the attempt to alter the Electoral Act to prohibit direct electronic transmission of election results from polling units.
I”t is clear that the APC is pushing for the prohibition of electronic transmission of results because it seeks to use its usual malpractices alteration of figures, switching of results as well as disappearance of ballot materials while on transit to collation centers to, again, subvert the will of the people and manipulate its hold on power in 2023.
“Our party, standing shoulder to shoulder with the Nigerian people, will use every means available and permissible under our laws to ensure that such a provision that seeks to institutionalize and endorse rigging is not allowed to pass.
The PDP therefore counsels the APC to read the handwriting on the wall and know that Nigerians are ready and waiting to resist them at any turn ahead of the 2023 election,” the PDP national publicity secretary said.
============