Fred Itua and Okwe Obi, Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari has urged the Senate to confirm Major General Paul Tarfa (retd) as chairman, governing board of the North East Development Commission.
President Buhari in a letter dated January 8, 2019, and addressed to the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, said the request for the confirmation of Tarfa was in accordance with Section 2(5)(b) of the North East Development Commission (NEDC) Act, 2017.
Tarfa was appointed governor of Oyo State from July 1978 to October 1979, the same period president Buhari was the Minister of Petroleum Resources.
The president also urged the Senate to confirm Mohammad Goni Alkali as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the NEDC.
Other members of the NEDC include Musa Yashi-Executive, Director Humanitarian Affairs; Muhammed Jawa, Executive Director Administration and Finance; and Omar Mohammed, Executive Director Operations.
Also on the board are David Kente, member Representing North East Zone; Asmau Mohammed, member Representing North West Zone and Benjamin Adanyi, member Representing North Central Zone.
Others include, Olawale Oshun, member Representing South West; Dr T. Ekechi, member Representing South East Zone and Obasuke Mcdonald, member Representing South South Zone.
In October 2016, the Senate passed the bill seeking the establishment of North East Development Commission, to rebuild the region, following devastation from insurgency.
President Buhari assented to the bill in October 2017.
Meanwhile, president Buhari, in a letter dated January 7, 2019, has requested the Senate to confirm Modibbo Tukur as the Director of the Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).
The request for the confirmation is in accordance with Section 5(1) of the Financial Intelligence Unit Act 2018.
Buhari urged the Senate to give the request expeditious consideration and passage.
In a related development, president Buhari has approved the appointment of Dr. Vincent Isegbe as the pioneer Director General of the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS).
In a statement signed, yesterday, by the Head of Media, Communications and Strategies of NAQS, Dr. Chigozie Nwodo, the appointment is to last for a period of five years.
He said: “Following the presidential assent to the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (Establishment) Bill, 2018, in January this year, NAQS became a full-fledged agency of government.
“Until this appointment, Dr Vincent Isegbe was the Coordinating Director of NAQS. He will be responsible for institutionalising the administrative and management structures requisite for operationalising the paramilitary status of the agency,” he said.