May 22, 2015 : Sunday Aborisade
Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar
| credits: File
| credits: File
The
Senate on Thursday disregarded the petition by the Supreme Council for
Islamic Affairs, headed by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar,
against the clearance of President Goodluck Jonathan’s nominees for
appointment into the board of the National Hajj Commission.
The upper chamber, at the plenary
session, ignored the petition and confirmed the appointments of the
chairman and commissioners of the commission, as requested by Jonathan.
Jonathan
had in a letter to the Senate two weeks ago nominated Abdullahi Muktar
Muhammad and eight others as Chairman and commissioners respectively in
view of the expiration of the tenure of the outgoing management of the
commission on the 24th of this month.
Senate President, David Mark, in view of
the urgency of the request, asked the Committee on Foreign Affairs to
screen the chairman and members of the NAHCON board and submit its
report for consideration within two weeks.
Presenting the report of the committee
on the floor of the Senate on behalf of his members, Senator Sani Saleh,
explained that series of petitions were fired against the appointment
of the nominees.
He said one of the petitions was received from the NSCIA and some other stake holders.
Saleh said that the NSCIA, in its
petition, objected to the composition of the entire nominees presented
to the Senate for the appointment.
He said the group claimed that contrary
to the provision of the Act, the President made the nominations and
forwarded the list to the Senate without consultation with the NSCIA or
the Sultan.
NSCIA, according to him, quoted Section
3(2) of the NAHCON Act, 2006, which states that, “The President shall,
after due consultation, appoints persons of proven integrity as Chairman
and members of the commission, subject to confirmation by the Senate.”
Saleh added that another petition was
received from one Abdulmumini Adamu, who also kicked against the
nomination of Muktar Muhammad as the chairman-designate without giving
any specific reasons.
He said another petition filed by the
Association for the Promotion of Consumer Rights International was
withdrawn before the committee could look into their complaints.
The committee, in its recommendations
after going through the petitions, dismissed that of Adamu because he
did not appear before it.
The senate committee’s report explained
details of how the nominees were screened without making recommendations
for their approval.
The report reads, “The committee
conducted the screening in line with its mandate from the Senate, but it
is constrained to make specific recommendations on the nominees because
of the sensitivity of the petition from the Nigerian Supreme Council
for Islamic Affairs, which came half way into the exercise.
“The Senate is kindly requested to consider and give further directives and guidance on the matter.”
But the Senate, while considering the
report, ignored the NSCIA petition by confirming the appointments of the
eight nominees as proposed by Jonathan.
For instance, Senate Leader, Victor
Ndoma-Egba, said section 3(2) of the NAHCON Act 2006, quoted by NSCIA to
back its petition, did not specifically state that the body or the
Sultan should be consulted by the President for such appointments.
He said the section only urged the
President to make due consultation, without specifically mentioning any
person or body for such consultations. This, he believed the President
must have done, before forwarding the names of the nominees.
He therefore urged the Senate to confirm
the appointment of the nominees since there were no proofs from anybody
or relevant institutions that the President did not carry out
consultations before their nominations.
The Deputy Senate Leader, Abdul Ningi
(PDP Bauchi Central), also rose in support of the Senate Leader that the
nominees’ appointments should be confirmed by the Senate, regardless of
the petitions filed against them.
He said, “Mr. President, I rise to
concur with the submission of the Senate Leader that the nominees
presented before us by President Jonathan for appointment into the board
of NAHCON should be confirmed, having been screened by our Committee on
Foreign Affairs and found worthy of the appointments.
“Personally, these nominees, as far as I
am concerned, are men and women of proven integrity and meant for the
jobs for which they are nominated for. No petition should be allowed to
stand in their ways please.”
However, Senator Kabiru Gaya (APC Kano
South) , urged his colleagues to allow the current members of the board
to continue in office pending when the new APC-government would take
over and inaugurate a new board for the commission.
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