Buhari Re-nominates 82-year-old for Ambassadorial Slot

•  Seeks confirmation of CBN board members, others

Damilola Oyedele in Abuja

Barely five weeks after his initial rejection by the Senate, President Muhammadu Buhari has again forwarded the details of 82-year-old Justice Slyvanus Adiewere Nsofor (rtd) from Imo State for screening and confirmation as a non-career ambassador.

The Senate on March 23, 2017, while confirming 45 others, had rejected Nsofor’s nomination due to his refusal to respond appropriately to questions posed to him during the screening exercise by the members of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

The Committee Chairman, Senator Monsurat Sunmonu (Oyo Central), had told the lawmakers that while Nsofor was not rejected due to his age, he had walked in for the screening, looking frail, and was supported as he was unable to walk by himself.

“His responses to the issues raised were either not answered or devoid of details and mostly satirical. For instance, we asked him to recite the national anthem, and he said we should have sent him a syllabus. A member of the committee asked him if he knew about IT. He asked what is IT, and I told him information Technology. He said: “It’s for your age, not mine.”

“Also, when asked if he was not too old, he said we should go and ask Mugabe who is still walking. He has shown his temperament,” she had said.

But Nsofor was again nominated by President Buhari despite the reasons by the Senate for his rejection.

In a letter to the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, dated March 29, 2017, Buhari did not give reasons for the re-nomination.

The president also nominated Mr. Olusola Iji for the slot of Ondo State, to replace Mr. Jacob Daodu who was rejected by the Senate on the basis of a report of the Department of State Services (DSS).

According to the committee’s report, the DSS had described Daodu as deceitful and corrupt, who indulged in corrupt practices while as Chairman of the Ondo State Road Maintenance Agency.

Buhari also nominated Commodore Yusuf Jonga Hinna for Gombe State, to replace the initial nomination of Mr. Suleiman Zanna Hassan Gombe, who has also been nominated to fill the ministerial slot of the state.

“It is my hope that this will receive the usual kind expeditious consideration of the distinguished Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” the letter read.

The president also nominated five nominees for Non Executive Directors of the Board of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in line with Sections 6 (1) (d) and 10 (1) and (2) of the CBN Act, 2007.

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).

Buhari also sought the confirmation of Prof. James Momoh as the Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), in a separate letter to the Senate.