Lauretta Onochie: profile of President Buhari PA nominated for INEC Federal Commissioner job
The screening of Lauretta Onochie by the Nigerian senate as INEC Federal Commissioner-nominee has been generating controversy among many concerned Nigerians.
The controversy is mainly because she is the Personal Assistant on Social Media to Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari – meaning she is one of the President’s loyalists and also a card carrying member of the APC, the president’s party.
Onochie was nominated by President Muhammadu Buhari for the position of national commissioner of INEC in October 2020.
But on Thursday 8 July, 2021 when Onochie appeared before the Nigerian Senate for screening, she said:
She is no longer a card carrying member of the ruling APC or is partisan.
Last week, Nigeria’s main opposition part, PDP protested Lauretta Onochie’s nomination at the National Assembly.
INEC – Independent National Electoral Commission – is Nigeria’s election office saddled with the responsibility of conducting general elections and announcing results.
If her screening scale through, she will rep south south region as one of the senior election officials in the country.
The last time there was this sort of concern regarding Nigeria’s election body was when the then Buhari, as opposition candidate, contested to be president in 2003.
During his election tribunal, he raised concerns that President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government had appointed card carrying members of PDP into INEC.
The Supreme Court in the ensuing case of Buhari v. Obasanjo in 2005 ruled that time that the Inec commissioners being PDP members is not sufficient to lead to the conclusion that were biased.
Who is Lauretta Onochie?
She described herself as an experienced consultant with a demonstrated history of working in education management industry.
Lauretta Onochie is a Nigerian educationist that was based in England before she returned home to work for president Buhari. She works as one of Buhari’s aides on new media.
Lauretta Onochie education background
Lauretta Onochie did her Post Graduate focused in Post Compulsory Education and Training from University of Greenwich from 2004 to 2005.
She attended University of Calabar where she studied elementary education.
She also attended University of Benin where she graduated with another degree in Business Education.
Onochie attended primary and secondary schools in Calabar.
The Post Compulsory Education and Training PCET is a professional teacher education programme which qualifies candidates to teach in post compulsory education and training sector.
Lauretta Onochie has also completed two certificate programs from Harvard University, one in Humanitarian Response To Conflict And Disaster, and the other in Health Effects Of Climate Change.
Lauretta Onochie biography
Lauretta Onochie is an indegine of Delta State.
Between 2005 and 2011, Lauretta Onochie bin served as lecturer at the New City College – Epping Forest Campus.
Thereafter she became a consultant for AfricaFirst.
She occupied that office until she got appointment as Personal Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari in 2016.
