The long standing dispute between the Senate and the Executive arm
over the retention of Ibrahim Magu as the acting chairman of the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), took a new turn on
Wednesday as the Red Chamber threatened the confirmation of the
nomination of Ms. Aisha Ahmad as a deputy governor of the Central Bank
of Nigeria (CBN).
President Muhammadu Buhari had forwarded Ahmad’s nomination to the
Senate for confirmation as a replacement for Mrs. Sarah Alade whose
tenure expired in February, but the Senate yesterday said that it would
not consider the nomination in line with its July 4, 2017 resolution to
suspend all executive confirmation requests until Magu is removed.
It also said, the hostility would persist until the Senate’s power of
confirmation of nominees to the boards of commissions established by
enabling laws but not listed in the 1999 Constitution as amended, is
clarified.
The Senate made the resolution, following a pronouncement by Vice
President Yemi Osinbajo that the Executive did not require the
confirmation of the Senate for the appointment of Chairman of the EFCC,
explaining that the request should not have been transmitted in the
first instance.
Magu’s nomination was rejected twice by the Senate on the basis of a
report of the Department of State Services (DSS), which indicted him for
criminal and unprofessional conduct. Despite his rejection, Magu
remained in office, a development, which has remained the source of the
tension between the Senate and the Executive arm of government.
Ahmad’s appointment would be the fifth casualty of the Senate’s
filibuster policy, the confirmation of the nomination of Mr. Lanre
Gbajabiamila (Director General of the National Lottery Regulatory
Commission), Mr. Funso Doherty (Director-General, Pension Commission),
Mr. Muhammad Isah (Chairman, Code of Conduct Bureau), and Prof. Bolaji
Owasanoye (Chairman, Independent Corrupt Practices Commission) having
been suspended earlier.
The Senate also suspended the confirmation of members of the boards
of the agencies and forbade them from operating in an acting capacity as
directed by the Executive.
No comments: