ONOCHIE AND THE SANCTITY OF THE ELECTORAL SYSTEM

It is often said that: show me a strong, virile democratic system and I will
show you an independent and uncompromising electoral institution.
In other words, a democracy is as good as the quality of elections it
enjoys. This is why all over the world, true democracies strive to
maintain the sanctity of their electoral system as the first course in the
pursuit of a free and democratic society.
Since Independence in 1960, Nigeria has struggled with elections and
her electoral system. With over 10 electoral chiefs and a myriad
configuration of electoral bodies, the system remains weak and
unsatisfactory to majority of Nigerians.
Due to its very crucial and sensitive nature, every aspect of the electoral
system is hotly debated and keenly contested.

This explains the recent ruckus over the nomination of Ms Lauretta
Onochie as a National Commissioner in the Independent National
Electoral Commission, INEC, by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Onochie is the president’s special assistant on Social Media and
National Commissioners represent the high decision making body of
INEC.
It must be stated that there’s no law barring the president from
appointing his aide to the commission. But this nomination has raised
the hackles of most people largely because Ms Onochie had not applied
much decorum in the discharge of her job as an aide.
Since her appointment in 2019, she has been acerbic and indeed
virulent in her public communication. She unwarrantedly plays the role of
a hound dog, tearing apart on social media, anyone who holds a
contrary opinion to hers. It is in this light that many find her as a highly
partisan individual who ought not to be part of an impartial and
independent body like INEC.
The civil society organisations have rejected Onochie’s nomination. So
have the main opposition parties and influence groups such as the
Nigerian Bar Association, NBA. The nomination was first made last year
but the gale of opposition it generated stymied its progress in the
Senate.
President Buhari has represented it once again and Nigerians seem to
have resolved not to have any of it.
What is puzzling to many is why Mr. President is so insistent on on-
boarding Ms. Onochie in in the face of millions of much more credible
Nigerians available to him. Considering that INEC must not only be
independent but must be seen to be so, many thought that President
Buhari would have withdrawn the nomination the first time. But he has
pressed on against the apparent will of the people.
The Lauretta Onochie episode has however reinforced the general
misgivings about President Buhari’s democracy bona fides. For instance,
in the history of Nigeria’s electoral bodies since 1960, never has the
country’s electoral chief and the head of State come from the same zone
of the country. It was an unwritten rule but it has been kept sacrosanct
till President Buhari arrived in 2015.

For instance, General Olusegun Obasanjo as Head of State in 1979
appointed Chief Michael Ani and later Justice Ovie Whiskey.
Generals Ibrahim Babangida and Sani Abacha had Professors Eme
Awa, Humphrey Nwosu and Okon Uya. President Goodluck Jonathan
went even one step further. To appoint Professor Attahiru Mohammed
Jega in 2010, he sought the ratification of the National Council of State,
the leadership of the National Assembly and the Nigerian Governors’
Forum. With the consensus of these critical stakeholders, Jega was not
only a shoo in at the NASS but he was acceptable to nearly all political
parties and groups.
But when President Buhari ascended office in 2015, he broke the
longstanding rule and appointed Professor Mahmood Yakubu as INEC
chairman to the shock of most. That is not to take anything away from
the eminent scholar who, ostensibly, is trying the best he can, in the face
of great odds.
From the foregoing, it will be a great relief, indeed a remarkable
paradigm shift, were the president to heed to the overriding will of
Nigerians on the appointment of Ms. Onochie.
Since the matter is still before the Senate, this newspaper therefore,
appeals to the distinguished members of the upper chambers of the
legislature to act honourably and in the interest of the people and
democracy.
We aver that giving consent to Onochie’s nomination may portend
unsavoury consequences. We therefore urge the Senate to pull the
chestnut out of the fire by throwing out this nomination. There is no
gainsaying that, this singular act will go a long way in restoring
confidence in the Nigerian electoral system.