Appointment of Sani-Omolori as Acting Clerk Splits N’Assembly Commission

Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja
Last week’s appointment of the Clerk of the House of Representatives, Mohammed Sani-Omolori, has taken a worse dimension with seven members of the commission dissociating themselves from the appointment.

Consequently, the commissioners threw their weight behind the appointment of Deputy Clerk of the National Assembly (DCNA), Benedict Efeturi, for the office.

Whereas Senate President Bukola Saraki had ordered the reversal of Sani-Omolori’s appointment and asked the commission to consider the appointment of Efeturi on the basis of seniority, the commission’s chairman, Adamu Fika, said Sani-Omolori’s appointment was in accordance with civil service rule which he said prohibited the appointment of an officer who did not have more than six months before retirement.

He explained that Efeturi would proceed on terminal leave on August 14 and hence, was not qualified for the appointment.

Fika also claimed that at the meeting where commissioners deliberated on Sani-Omolori’s appointment on April 20, 2016, only 1 of 12 commissioners opposed the appointment.
But in a swift reaction, seven commissioners disowned Fika and his claim, saying five commissioners opposed the appointment, five abstained while only one supported it.

The seven commissioners in a letter addressed to Fika, said despite the situation, he (Fika) proceeded to appoint Sani-Omolori as acting clerk against what they described as the commission’s tradition of adopting minutes of meeting at another meeting.

They also accused him of repeating what he did in 2014, when he appointed Sani-Omolori as DCNA despite eight commissioners voting in favour of Efeturi.

They added that it took a letter addressed to the then senate president dissociating themselves from the appointment to reverse it.
The commissioners are: Abubakar Rufai, Idi Ningi, Joseph Oru, Paul Oweh, Stephen Yepwi, Funmi Lamuye and Abel Chukwu.