The Senate has rejected the nomination of Lauretta Onochie as a National Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Onochie was rejected following the consideration of the report of the Committee on INEC, chaired by Senator Kabiru Gaya.

The nomination of Lauretta Onochie was greeted with several petitions from stakeholders including the main opposition, the People’s Democratic Party, PDP following her alleged unflinching support for president Mugammadu Buhari.

Her nomination by the president which is perceived as a reward for a loyalists, was perceived by the opposition parties and other Civil Society Organisations, CSOs as a plot by the ruling party, the APC to perfect plans to rig the 2023 General Elections.

The Senate also stood down the approval of Professor Sani Mohammed Adam till further legislative action.

The panel said Onochie’s nomination as INEC National Commissioner is in clear violation of Section 14 (3) of the 1999 Constitution on the Principle of Federal Character, which indicates that there is currently a serving commissioner from Delta state, where Onochie hails from.