Okai slammed the Lawan-led Senate for accepting the nomination of presidential media aide, Lauretta Onochie who is to be screened as national commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Activist and nationalist, Comrade Austin Okai has berated the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan for displaying himself and the entire members of the Senate as a true rubber stamp for President Muhammadu Buhari actions and policies.
Okai slammed the Lawan-led Senate for accepting the nomination of presidential media aide, Lauretta Onochie who is to be screened as national commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The activist faulted Lawan for accepting the nomination of Onochie, adding that by the provisions of the constitution and common sense, she should not be an official of the nation’s electoral umpire because she is an active member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Okai revealed this when approached by journalists at an event in Sheraton Hotel, Abuja, where he described Lawan as turning the legislature into a sycophant assembly and rubber stamp for President Buhari's actions.
“Lauretta Onochie by all standard is known to be affiliated with the All Progressives Congress, which is a card-carrying member in the present administration. These partisan affiliations naturally disqualify her to serve as a member of Nigeria’s electoral umpire.
“Based on the provisions of the Constitution and common sense, all members and officers of INEC must be nonpartisan in appearance. So, is it not a slap on the sensibilities of Nigerians for Onochie to even be considered for the position of INEC commissioner?” he asked.
Okai went further to say that a complete rejection was what was needed in the case of Onochie, and not an iota of consideration to be screened.
“It is disgraceful that Senator Ahmad Lawan has over the last two years failed to draw a line between his personal loyalty to Buhari as the leader of the ruling party and the office of the President of the Senate that he currently occupies.
"How could he even consider the nomination of Lauretta Onochie for screening other than outright rejection? It is a shame that the Senate under the Lawan’s leadership appears to be aloof of their responsibilities to Nigerians and the Constitution after 22 years into our democracy,” he further stated.
While presenting a solution, Okai calls on the Senator Kabiru Gaya-led committee and other members of the Red Chamber to save the face of the 9th Senate by disqualifying Onochie and rejecting her nomination for the INEC position.
He also called on Lawan to understand his responsibilities and stop turning the Senate into a rubber-stamp assembly. He stated that the Senate Chamber is too hallowed to be turned into a chamber of Presidential lapdogs.