Senate Drops One Of Buhari’s CBN Board Nominees, Confirms Four
The Senate has confirmed four of the five members of the board of the Central Bank of Nigeria nominated by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions had screened the nominees on Wednesday.
The nominees are Prof. Ummu Ahmed Jalingo (North-East), Prof. Justitia Odinakachukwu Nnabuko (South-East), Prof. Mike Obadan (South-South), Dr. Abdu Abubakar (North-West) and Adeola Adetunji (South-West).
In the report by the committee on the nominees presented by the Chairman, Senator Rafiu Ibrahim, and adopted at the plenary on Thursday, the panel recommended Abubakar for non-confirmation over issues of personal quality.
Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, however, urged the Senate to stand down the recommendation of the panel on Abubakar, “otherwise I support the rest of the report.”
He added, “By the time they bring another report, the Senate would be better informed on the gravity or otherwise of the petitions to enable us to make an informed decision.”
President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, ruled that the committee review its position on Abubakar.
“A few people have actually approached me on this issue. I think that if we don’t have any objection to it, let us rule that the committee should be told to go back and look at the issue of this nominee that has been rejected. They can review it and come back,” he said.
The Majority Leader, Senator Ahmad Lawan, said he agreed with the positions taken by Saraki and Ekweremadu on the matter. He, however, faulted the panel for using certain words to describe Abubakar.
He said, “I am concerned with the wordings on the nominee because I thought that there would be petitions against him due to his incapacity or lack or some qualities. But when you use such words as ‘lacking in honesty,’ these are things that really…”
Saraki interrupted Lawan, saying, “That is what I am saying. Instead of going into the depth of the report, let us simplify it and say that as far as the nominee is concerned, they should go back and do more legislative work. The other ones to which nobody has any objections, we will pass them.”
The Senate confirmed Jalingo, Nnabuko, Obadan and Adetunji, resolving that the committee should review its recommendation on the rejected nominee.
The lawmakers had last week considered the request by the President, in a letter he wrote to the Senate over one year ago, for legislative confirmation of the appointments.
Considering the request penultimate Wednesday, Saraki had referred the request to the committee with a mandate to report back in two weeks.
