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Fred Itua, Abuja
In less than two weeks, the lifespan of the 8th Senate will come to an end. A new leadership will emerge on the 11th of June.
Although it is too early to predict who will emerge as President of the Senate, whoever emerges will inherit an Assembly without a constituted Service Commission (NASC), an action that negates the principles of law.
Five months after names of nominees of the chairman and members of the National Assembly Service Commission were forwarded to President Muhammadu Buhari; the outgoing Senate is still waiting for the presidency to issue letters of appointment.
Besides, the president is yet to properly send a request to the Senate, seeking the confirmation of the nominees. The tenure of the last board expired in July of 2018. Five months after that, President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki on December 20, 2018 wrote to President Buhari nominating members of the Commission.
By law, the president within one month ought to have communicated to the Senate. Going by the National Assembly Service Commission Act 2014, the leadership of the National Assembly has the right to appoint the people it wants to serve in the commission. And upon nomination, the president is expected to forward their names to the Senate for confirmation. However, the presidency is still maintaining a dead silence on the issue.
In the letter addressed to President Buhari by Saraki and titled “Nomination for chairman and commissioners of the National Assembly Service Commission (NASC), the President of the Senate said “I have the honour to present to Mr. President a list of nominees for the appointment as Chairman and Commissioners of the National Assembly Commission (NASC). This is in compliance with Section 3(3) and (5) of the National Assembly Service Commission Act 2014.
“Senator Joy Emordi (chairman); Henry Odey-Adaga (member). Dr. Rufus Omeire (member), Nuhu Musa (Member). Bilyaminu Yusuf Shinkafi (member)’ Femi Agege (member), Efiok Essien Cobham (member), Dauda Bunbot (member), Ahmed Ashemi (member), Uthman Olakunle Taofeek (member), Prince Adeneke Olaferu-Olagbebi (member), Awalu Aliyu Ohindase (member) and Amb. Abdulazeez Sheik Usman (member).”
From the letter, three nominees are from the South East, with the chairman and two each from North West, North East, South West, South South and South West.
The letter was duly acknowledged by the presidential liaison office to the National Assembly (Senate), headed by Senator Ita Enang, who is the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on National Assembly Matters (Senate).
In a letter dated January 16, 2019 and addressed to the Senate President, Enang wrote: “Your Excellency’s letter to His Excellency, Mr. President and C-in-C of December 20, 2-019 refers.
“May Your Excellency please cause the CVs of the named nominees to be forwarded to enable Mr. President facilitate their letter of appointment for confirmation to the Senate.”
Four months after the letter from President Buhari’s aide, President Buhari is yet to forward the names of the nominees to the Senate for confirmation, contrary to Act No 3 subsections 3 of the NASC Act 2014.
Section 5(3) of the Act said: “Upon the coming into force of this Act or upon of the expiration of the life of the Commission at any time or upon the vacancy occurring in the membership of the commission, the president shall send the appropriate nominations to the National Assembly within 30 days of being requested to do so.”
The law provides that the President of the Senate, as chairman of the National Assembly, shall, in consultation with Speaker of the House of the Representatives, nominate members of the NASC.
Section 3 (3) (3) of the same Act further stated that “The President of the Senate shall, upon consultation with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, submit to the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria a proposal list out of which the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria shall nominate for appointment, the chairman and members of the commission.”
And on what President Buhari ought to do after receiving the nomination letter from the President of the Senate President, Section 3 (3) (4) of the Act further stated that” the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria shall appoint the chairman and members of the commission from the list submitted to him in accordance with the provision of subsection (3) of this section, subject to the confirmation by the Senate.”
On the composition of the commission, Section 3 (3) (5) of the Act said: “At least two members of the commission shall be drawn from each of the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria.”
On the tenure of the NASC, the Act said in Section 3 (3) (6): “A member of the commission shall hold office for a period of five years from the date of his appointment and he may be reappointed for another term of five years and no more.”
The man at the centre of the storm, Enang, has refused to speak on the issue. Whenever our correspondent reaches out to him to get his own side of the story, he either ends the calls or come up with excuses on why he can’t speak on the issue.
Despite his refusal to speak on the issue, Daily Sun is reliably gathered that the president may not be aware of the pending letter as some forces in connivance with some presidential aides are said to be working on the possibility of deferring the appointment in order to buy time.
But other sources are saying that the delay may also have come from the president. The president, who has not enjoyed a cordial relationship with the current leadership of the National Assembly, it was gathered, wants to send the names to the incoming leadership of the Assembly.
The president’s decision, it was learnt, was reached based on Enang’s advice. Enang who is a former lawmaker, also played a role in the appointment of the current Clerk to the National Assembly, Mohammed Sani Omolori.
In April 2016, President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, who doubles as chairman of the National Assembly, had a running battle with Dr. Adamu Fika, over the appointment of the Clerk of the Assembly.
While Saraki had insisted on Ben Efeturi, the Deputy Clerk, to take charge, Fika who retired as Clerk to the National Assembly in 1994, opted for Omolori. In the end, Fika’s candidate was appointed ahead of Saraki’s preferred choice.
Apparently not willing to leave anything to chance, the leadership of both chambers, it was learnt, immediately shopped for Fika’s replacement, following his exit in July last year.
It is unclear if the president will ignore the nominees forwarded to him by Saraki and rely on the incoming leadership of the National Assembly to make fresh nominations. Sources further revealed that following the non-constitution of the NASC, many positions in the National Assembly Management are on acting basis, while promotions are pending. This position was corroborated by the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) who in March expressed concern over the continued delay in the presentation of the nominees into the National Assembly Service Commission.
PASAN had gone on strike last December demanding among others, the inauguration of the commission. The group’s Chairman, Musa Bature, told journalists that the constitution of the board was long overdue.
He said, “The legislators have done their part by sending the list to Mr. President for his approval but till date nothing has been received. As you are aware nothing can be done except he approves the list to enable us have a new board. If you remember during our protest, it was one of the demands we made before we called off the strike.”
Daily Sun gathered that in the absence of the commission, the civil service bureaucracy in the National Assembly has been operating without supervision spurning claims of indiscriminate actions by some of the bureaucrats.
Ironically, from the list of the nominees, it is the first time anybody from the South East will be proposed to head the commission. The first chairman, Mr. Ishaya Dare Akau, who was in office from June 2001to May 2006, hails from Kaduna State.
The second chairman was Aliyu Ahmed Dogondaji, from Sokoto State, was in office from July 2006 to May 2011. The third chairman, Dr. Adamu Fika, who hails from Bauchi State, was in office from August 2013 to July 2018. From the forgoing, it is clear that this is the longest wait in the history of the expiration of the tenure of chairman of the commission and the succeeding ones. How long more must President Buhari wait?
