President Muhammadu Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant on New Media, Lauretta Onochie, has denied her membership of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
Onochie denounced the party three times before the Senate Committee on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on Thursday when she appeared before it for her screening as National Commissioner.
Onochie arrived at the venue knowing the odds she would be up against when she appeared before the Senate screening panel as National INEC Commissioner for Nigeria’s electoral umpire.
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Even without being prompted, Onochie herself brought up the allegation of her membership of the ruling
APC, admitting her romance with Buhari’s campaign organization working for the election victory of President Buhari in 2015 before being rewarded with a portfolio as one of his aides on Social media
against an affidavit dated 30th June 2021, she swore to at an FCT High court.
Admitting her membership to Buhari Support Organisation and the APC, Onochie three times denied her membership of the ruling APC
She told lawmakers that she stopped being a card-carrying member of APC in 2019, two years ago and almost soon as President Buhari was re-elected for the second term.
However, the affidavit she swore to last month suggested otherwise wherein she confirmed that she is still an active member of APC
Onochie’s support for Buhari was still quite visible in many of her posts on social media in 2020.
President Buhari had last October nominated Onochie, provoking public outcry not only from the opposition but also from society groups within and outside the country calling on the Senate not to approve Onochie’s appointment.
Lawmakers were divided on Thursday over Onochies nomination at the screening exercise from the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, asking her to recuse herself from appointment and preserve her integrity
There were, even more, torn apart by Senator Bamidele Opeyemi asking that they place Onochie on oath after she denied her APC membership.