I left APC in 2019, Onochie tells Senate – Newstrends
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I left APC in 2019, Onochie tells Senate

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Special Assistant to the President on Social Media, Mrs Lauretta Onochie, on Thursday denied her membership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) three times.

This was during her grilling by senators to determine her suitability for appointment as a National Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Onochie, who appeared before the Senate Committee on INEC, said she parted ways with the APC and stopped her volunteer work with the Buhari Support Organisation (BSO) in 2019.

She said those opposed to her nomination were after her because of her “due process stance” and belief in the rule of law.

President Muhammad Buhari had, on October 12, 2020, nominated Onochie (Delta), Professor Muhammad Sani Kallah (Katsina), Professor Kunle Cornelius Ajayi (Ekiti), Saidu Babura Ahmad (Jigawa), Prof. Sani Muhammad Adam (Northcentral) and Dr. Baba Bila (Northeast) as National Commissioners of INEC.

The presidential aide said she was aware of petitions against her, especially those about her membership of the APC and the fact that someone from her state was already on INEC’s board.

She admitted being part of the Buhari campaign organisation in 2015 before her appointment as Special Assistant on Social Media.

Onochie also admitted to having sworn to an affidavit at a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja that she was a member of the APC.

The presidential aide claimed she stopped being a member of the party after the 2019 polls.

She said, “I have learnt over the years to stand with the constitution and due process but not on partisanship or sentiments.

“Since 2019, I have not had anything to do with any political organisation, including Buhari support groups. When APC was doing re-validation of party members, I did not take part in the exercise.

“As I’m sitting down here, I’m not a member of any political party in this country. I’ve no partisanship in my blood.”

On the petitions urging the Senate not to clear her for the job, Onochie said, “I have seen many petitions against my nomination, not only from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), but also from some APC members.

“I’m not partisan; they know. It is about the law. No one has any reason to fear for my nomination as INEC commissioner representing Delta.

“As far as I’m concerned, I’m Madam Due Process. That’s why all the attacks. I follow due process, I follow the law.”

 

But an affidavit she swore to at an FCT High Court, dated June 30, 2021, and attached to one of the petitions against her, contradicted her claims.

 

Read Also: PDP storms NASS, protests Onochie’s nomination as INEC Commissioner

 

 

She deposed to the affidavit at the High Court of the FCT in a case involving her as plaintiff and Emeka Ugwuonye (defendant).

 

Paragraph three of Onochie’s witness statement on oath reads: “That I am also engaged in active politics and a member of Neighbourhood Watch and has also contested the local government elections under the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom.

“I am also a member of the APC and a volunteer at the Buhari Support Organisation.”

Onochie further told the committee that Mrs May Agbamuche, a serving INEC National Commissioner from Delta State, is actually representing Cross River on the board of the electoral umpire.

Opposition Senators Ifeanyi Ubah, Seriake Dickson, Istifanus Gyang and Ike Ekeweremadu, separately asked her again to confirm her membership of the APC.

Onochie, three times denied her membership of the ruling APC, telling the committee that she stopped being a card-carrying member of the party in 2019 (two years ago) as soon as Buhari was re-elected for a second term in office.

But a suggestion by Senator Opeyemi Bamidele that Onochie be put on oath after she denied her membership of the APC was supported by Senator Lawal Gumau (Bauchi South).

Ekewremadu and Dickson opposed the move, saying the Senate Rules did not support any nominee being placed on oath during screening.

Committee Chairman Kabiru Gaya overruled the suggestion to avoid breaching the provisions of the Senate Standings Orders on screening of nominees.

Gaya said the panel’s report would be submitted to the Senate at plenary next week for consideration and possible approval after he adjourned sitting.

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Damagun writes INEC to conduct by-election for 27 vacant Rivers assembly seats

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IIiya Umar Damagum

Damagun writes INEC to conduct by-election for 27 vacant Rivers assembly seats

Few days after governors on the platform of the Peoples Democracy Party (PDP) handed down an ultimatum for things to change in the party, the Acting National Chairman of the party, Umar Damagun has moved against the FCT Minister and his loyal lawmakers, the 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

Damagun in a letter addressed to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) dated 13th November 2024 and released on Sunday by the spokesperson of the Opposition Lawmakers Coalition, Ikenga Ugochinyere urged the electoral umpire to conduct a bye-election to fill up the 27 seats, they vacated to join the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Wike has been accused of being behind the crisis in the PDP over his disagreement with the Rivers State governor, Sim Fubara, his successor.

The crisis which started over control of resources divided the party in the state with 27 lawmakers in the state assembly siding Wike and defected to the APC following Wike’s acceptance to serve in the government of the APC.

He has also been accused of working in cahoots with Damagun to damage the PDP by not organising the National Executive Committee which would lead to the acting Chairman’s ouster.

After a series of agitation, the latest being from the PDP Governors’ Forum over the weekend, Damagun has demanded that INEC conduct elections as soon as possible, apparently moving against the FCT minister.

He argued in letter titled, ‘DEMAND FOR IMMEDIATE CONDUCT OF FRESH ELECTION IN 27 STATE CONSTITUENCIES OF RIVERS STATE WHICH HAVE BECOME VACANT PURSUANT TO SECTION 109(1)(g) OF THE CONSTITUTION’ that it’s “unlawful” for the 27 members to defect.

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The members defected to the APC on December 11, 2023.

Damagun said, going by provisions of the Constitution, the lawmakers are no longer members of the Assembly.

The PDP acting chairman therefore urged the Commission to perform its constitutional duties and begin the process of conducting fresh elections to fill the vacancies created in the 27 state constituencies by the unlawful act of the former Assembly members.

Parts of the letter read, “The Leadership of our great party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) wishes to draw the attention of the Commission to the gross violation of Section 109 (1)(g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) by 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly following their unlawful defection from our Party, the PDP who sponsored their elections to the All Progressive Congress (APC) on Monday, December 11, 2023.

“The Commission may recall that our Party, the PDP nominated all our 32 State House of Assembly candidates in Rivers State for the 2023 General Election on the 7th of July 2022 via your electronic candidate election nomination portal (See attached acknowledgement).

“The Commission may also recall that following the nomination, the Commission conducted election into the Rivers State House of Assembly on the 18th of March, 2023 and our Party won 32 seats in the state Assembly. The elected State House of Assembly members were inaugurated and sworn-in on June, 2023.

“However, on Monday, 11 December, 2023 a period of just six (6) months after inauguration, 27 out of the 32 members publicly announced their defection from our Party to the All Progressive Congress (APC). This defection is a gross violation of Section 109(1)(g) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (As amended).

“The only two grounds of division and merger provided for in the Constitution that permit such defection are completely non-existent in our political Party. It therefore means that the defections of the 27 members are without lawful excuse and these members have vacated their seats in the Rivers State House of Assembly by the operations of Section 109(1)(g) of the 1999 Constitution.

“In view of the foregoing, we hereby demand that the Commission performs its constitutional duties and begin the process of conducting a Fresh Election to fill the vacancies created in the 27 State Constituencies by the unlawful act of the Assembly members. Find attached the list of the 27 State Assembly Members and their Constituencies.

“While thanking the Commission for its commitment to deepening democracy in our country, please accept the assurances of our highest regards.”

Damagun writes INEC to conduct by-election for 27 vacant Rivers assembly seats

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Nigeria would have been better under Peter Obi, too much nepotism under Tinubu – Senator Abaribe

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Nigeria would have been better under Peter Obi, too much nepotism under Tinubu – Senator Abaribe

 

Nigeria would have been better than what it is currently if Peter Obi, candidate of the Labour Party (LP), had won the 2023 elections, the senator representing Abia South, Enyinnaya Abaribe, has said.

Abaribe, who spoke on ‘Politics Today,’ a Channels Television programme, on Monday, said Obi would not have been as nepotistic as the administration of President Bola Tinubu.

“Number one, he would not be as nepotistic as this government; he won’t; it’s not in him. That is just who we are; we feel for the other people.”

The lawmaker called attention to Tinubu’s appointment of four ministers from Ogun alone, noting that many other states have just one.

“I say it, and I don’t think so. We are seeing it everyday. I just gave you one example. How can Ogun state have four ministers? Why does he favour Ogun state? Oyo state has only one minister,” Abaribe said.

”The nepotism of Buhari, which nobody followed, has now deepened under President Tinubu because Buhari did it, and nobody said much. I was the only person shouting.”

He said that rather than waiting for presidents to be fair to the people of the south-east, it is high time people of the zone went back to revamp it, make it more livable, better, and more cohesive.

“It’s obvious that if we continue to look at whoever becomes president, they will look at us and do us right. Apart from Obasanjo and maybe Jonathan, I do not think that we have seen that same type of fairness,” he said.

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Lagos 2027: Seyi Tinubu campaign team releases his life documentary

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Seyi Tinubu

Lagos 2027: Seyi Tinubu campaign team releases his life documentary

Seyi Tinubu, son of President Bola Tinubu, has been tipped for the seat of Lagos governor in the 2027 governorship election.

This was according to a video making the rounds on various social media platforms, which Peoples Gazette saw on Sunday.

The video highlights the president’s son’s biography, focusing on his education, career, and humanitarian activities as a Nigerian. It also documents his involvement in youth development in the country.

This biopic comes on the heels of some groups’ endorsements of Mr Tinubu’s son as a potential successor to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in 2027.

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On Tuesday, the Coalition of Nigerian Youth Leaders issued an endorsement in Owerri, Imo, suggesting that the younger Tinubu would be welcomed to contest the governorship seat in Osun or Imo.

He was also endorsed by Friends of Seyi, a group emphasising his vision and intellectual wherewithal to govern the country’s commercial nerve.

APC chieftain Joe Igbokwe, however, described the gale of endorsements as a ploy to undermine the president in a Facebook post.

“Who are these faceless people pushing Seyi Tinubu for Lagos governor? This is a needless distraction,” said Mr Igbokwe. “To pull PBAT down is their target. Ruling Lagos is not the job of boys.”

Lagos 2027: Seyi Tinubu campaign team releases his life documentary

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