Nigerian Senate stalls confirmation of Buhari's nominees
- Appointments into seven key government agencies awaiting Senate confirmation is been stalled
- Some of them have been held up for more than four months now
- The relationship between the Executive and the Legislature is nothing to write home about
A report by Daily Trust has revealed that the Nigerian Senate is deliberately delaying the confirmation of some appointments made by President Muhammadu Buhari.
President Buhari made some of the appointments since June, but the Senate has looked the other way and carried on with other activities.
Among those awaiting the Senate confirmation are:
1. Chairman and commissioners of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
2. Chairman and commissioners of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC)
3. Chairman and commissioners of the Nigerian Communications Commission
4. Chairman and commissioners of the National Population Commission
5. Six Independent National Electoral Commission commissioners
6. Two Supreme Court Justices and
7. 47 career ambassadors
The letter nominating the EFCC chairman and commissioners was received at the Senate on Wednesday, June 22, according to the official stamp on it but was not read by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki until on Thursday, July 14.
A Senator however doused the tension surrounding the delay saying, “it’s a blessing in disguise because our colleagues had reservations about him but the delay has calmed nerves”.
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When contacted, the Senate Leader, Senator Ali Ndume said the appointment of the EFCC’s boss would soon be confirmed.
Meanwhile, officials at the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir David Lawal, opined that there are no cogent reasons why the Upper Chamber should be delaying the confirmation when there are many vacuums to be filed.
Two officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the refusal of the president to allow the lawmakers have their ways, especially on financial issues, was largely responsible for their disposition.
“The most important of their grievances is the issue of constituency projects which the presidency has said may not be possible in this year’s (2016) budget due to the economic downturn and dwindling income to the nation’s treasury.
“The lawmakers did not help themselves when they decided to purchase the cars despite the outcry by Nigerians,” one of the officials said.
The second official said the presidency is worried about the delays on what he opined the Senate should have prioritised.
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He stated the recent withdrawal of the forgery charges against Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu was part of the federal government's strategy to douse tension between the two arms of government.
His words: “We all know that the National Assembly is seeing the Presidency as muzzling or trying to dominate them. But this is not the case; the cordiality expected from the lawmakers was not forthcoming.
“They want it to be business as usual even when they know there is financial difficulties and recession in the country.”
In a related development, an ambassadorial nominee from Katsina state, Usman Bugaje has revealed why he rejected President Buhari’s call to serve the nation under the current administration.
Bugaje, who is from the same state as the president, explained that his hands were full and so, he could not attend to any other thing, hence his rejection.
Another nominee, Akintunde Akinwande, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is also believed to have turned down his appointment as the chairman of the NERC after refusing to see the Senate for screening or the DSS for security clearance.
Source: Legit.ng
