A renowned legal practitioner in Nigeria, Femi Falana SAN, Interim Chair, Alliance on Surviving Covid 19 and Beyond (ASCAB), on Tuesday, declared that President Muhammadu Buhari erred in the nomination of a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Lauretta Onochie, for appointment as a national commissioner in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), among three other nominees. Falana in a statement listed sections of the constitution that the president violated in the appointment of Onochie into the INEC, pointing out that Onochie being a member of a political party, the ruling APC in this case, is not qualified to be appointed into the INEC.
President Buhari had approached the Senate for screening and confirmation Lauretta Onochie as representative of Delta State; Professor Mohammed Sani, representing Katsina State; Professor Kunle Ajayi, representing Ekiti State; and Seidu Ahmed, representing Jigawa State for appointment into the INEC as national commissioners.
Falana in a statement captioned: “Members and supporters of political parties are not qualified to be INEC commissioners” indicated that “in view of the desire of President Muhammadu Buhari to fill some vacancies in the Independent National Electoral Commission, it has become pertinent to draw the attention of the Council of State and the Senate to the following provisions of the Constitution:
- In appointing the members of the INEC the President is required to consult with the Council of State pursuant to section 154 (3) of the Constitution;
- Paragraph B of Part 1 of the 3rd Schedule to the Constitution provides that “The Council of State shall have power to advise the President in the exercise of his powers with respect to (iv) the Independent National Electoral Commission including the appointment of the members of the Commission.
- Pursuant to section 154 (1) of the Constitution, the appointment of the members of the Independent National Electoral Commission shall be subject to confirmation by the Senate.
- Paragraph 14 of Part 1 of the Third Schedule to the Constitution as amended by Section 30, Act No 1 of 2010, a member of the Independent National Electoral Commission “shall be non-partisan.”
Falana argued that from the foregoing, “it is crystal clear that a card-carrying member of a registered political party or a well-known supporter of a particular political party is constitutionally disqualified from the membership of the Independent National Electoral Commission.”
He pointed out that “as an unrepentant member of the ruling party, Mrs. Loretta Onochie has consistently attacked members of other political parties. To that extent, she is partisan and, therefore, not qualified to be a member of the Independent National Electoral Commission.”