Politics
SEDC, NWDC: Senate Confirms Mark Okoye, Shehu Ma’aji,30 others
The Senate at plenary on Tuesday confirmed all the Nominees of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the Governing Boards of the North West Development Commission, NWDC and the South East Development Commission, (SEDC).
The Senate presided by the Senate President Godswill Akpabio confirmed Mark Okoye and Professor Abdullahi Shehu Ma’aji as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officers of the SEDC and NWDC respectively.
The Senate gave its final confirmation after the Ad-Hoc Committee on regional development Commissions led by Senator Orji Uzor Kalu APC, Abia-North submitted the report of its screening exercise.
According to Kalu’s report the nominees had during the screening proved their capacities to man the affairs of the respective Development Commissions.
A mild drama however ensued as some Legislators made a move to invoke Order (1b) to step down the confirmation process for further consultations.
The move was however unsuccessful as the Senate voted to dissolve into the Committee of the Whole to consider the report in the course of which all the nominees of both Commissions were approved.
The confirmed nominees are; the 14 board member nominees of the NWDC led by Alhaji Lawal Samai’la Abdullahi as Chairman of the commission and Professor Abdullahi Shehu Ma’aji as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer.
Others are; Dr. Yahaya Umar Namahe, Hon. Aminu Suleiman, Ja’afar Abubakar Sadeeq, Yahaya Aminu Abdullahi, Hon. Engr Muhammad Ali Wudil, Shamsu Sule, Nasidi Ali, Chukwu Chijtoke, Ahmed Mohammed, Engr. Ahmed Rufai Timasantyu, Macdonalds Michael Uyi And Hon. Babatunde Dada.
Followed by the 18-member nominees of the South-East Development Commission led by Dr. Emeka Nworgu who was also confirmed as Chairman and Hon. Mark Okoye as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer.
Others are; Barr. Ugochukwu H. Agballah , Hon. Okey kzenwa , Chief Hyacinth Ikpor , Chidi Echeazu, Barr. Ifeanyi Agwu Ph.D , Nasiru Usman, Hamma Adama Ali Kumo Edward David Onoja , Orure Kufre Inima , Daniel Akwari, Chief (Mrs) Joke Adebayo-Chukwuma, Rt. Hon. Stanley Ohajuruka (E.D. Finance), Chief Sylvester Okonkwo ( E.D. Corporate Services , Hon. Toby Okechukwu ( E.D. Projects ), Sen, Anthony Agbo ( E.D. Commercial and Industrial Development ) and Dr. Clifford Ogbede (E.D. Natural Resources, Agriculture and Rural Development).
Recall that four weeks ago, President Bola Tinubu submitted a revised list of nominees for the Governing Boards of the Regional Development Commissions to the Senate for confirmation.
Consequently, Senate President Godswill Akpabio who presided over the plenary referred the nominees to undergo grilling by an Ad-Hoc Committee it created chaired by Senator Orji Uzor Kalu APC, Abia-North.
During the screening held on Monday, members of the committee sternly warned the nominees for the Governing Boards not to fail Nigerians, adding that they would be closely monitored by the Senate and won’t hesitate to expedite their sack if found wanting in unethical acts.
Kalu in his speech re-emphasised the importance of accountability and transparency in the governance of the development commissions.
Shortly after adopting the report of Kalu’s committee on the nominees were confirmed via voice votes after the Senate President Godswill Akpabio put it into question.
Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, Chairman of the Senate Inter-parliamentary Committee, remarked that the purported petition from the suspended Senator Natasha is “dead on arrival.”
He emphasised that Nigeria, rather than Senator Natasha, is the member of the IPU.
A petition can only be lodged against another member state by a member state.
This implies that the IPU cannot consider petitions from individuals who are not members.
The suspended Senator Natasha is not a member of the IPU, but Nigeria is!
Additionally, the suspended Senator cannot represent the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“I served as the interim president of the IPU in Geneva in 2023, and I am familiar with how the IPU operates after presiding over its proceedings.
Furthermore, as Chairman of the Inter- parliamentary Committee in the Nigerian Senate, I did not approve or authorise the suspended Senator Natasha to attend the IPU on behalf of Nigeria to the Senate President.”
Politics
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Senate in session in the chamber
By David Owei ,Bayelsa
Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, has said that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was bigger than any individual and that its internal challenges would be fixed once the members resolve to tackle them.
Speaking to journalists at the PDP national secretariat in Abuja on Thursday after the inauguration of the party’s South-South zonal caretaker committee led by Elder Emma Ogidi, the Bayelsa Governor said the political will to confront those fomenting trouble in the party resided with the members and not solely on the leadership.
Diri, who is also Chairman of the South-South Governors Forum, stated that for the party to be competitive as the oldest in the country, it must look inwards and fix its internal issues.
He said: “For me, we have to look inwards before accusing those outside our party. We have to first fix our internal issues.
“It is very easy to point accusing fingers. But the PDP has to sit back and tackle its internal challenges. That is only when we can stand to compete with others.
“I want the PDP to be competitive with other political parties. We are the oldest political party in Nigeria. So we have no reason to be accusing outsiders.”
On whether the party’s leadership had the political will to discipline those fomenting trouble, Governor Diri averred that such will resided with the members.
“We are all members of the party. The moment we all resolve that we need to fix our party, there cannot be any one person that is bigger than the party.”
He stressed that the newly inaugurated zonal caretaker committee had the mandate of the National Working Committee to look into every issue affecting the party in the South-South.
The Bayelsa helmsman expressed the hope that the event was a step forward for the party.
“In our zone, which is the only area in the country you have four governors of the party, we have all resolved and are together on this. You can see the deputy governor of Delta State, who represented the governor. I have also received messages from the governors of Akwa Ibom and Rivers. It shows that we are together and what we need to do is to show leadership and work with the zonal committee so that our zone will again become safe and strong for the PDP.”
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