Drama as Senate Committee Screens NDDC Board Nominees

 

There was mild drama on Thursday as the Senate Committee on Niger Delta Affairs screened 15 out of the 16 nominees for the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

Midway into the screening of the nominees by the committee headed by Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, a committee member, Senator Matthew Urhoghide, picked holes in the resume of the nominee for the post of Executive Director, Projects, Otobong Ndem (Akwa Ibom), when he appeared before the committee.

He had sought to know why there were discrepancies in the candidate’s educational record, saying from the CV before him, the nominee had his school certificate in 2007, National Diploma in 1999 and Higher National Diploma in 2002.

On his part, Senator George Sekibo wondered why the nominee also claimed to have obtained his Master degree in 2012 and Bachelor of Science degree in 2019.

He also asked him: “As a former member of the House of Assembly, were you a Speaker or a Deputy Speaker? If no, why did you prefix your name with the words ‘Right Honourable’?

Adding his voice, Senator Rochas Okorocha stressed that since Ndem had served in the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, he should be asked ‘to take a bow and go’ citing what happened during the confirmation of the Minister of Transportation, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, a  former member of the Rivers State House of Assembly, who was accorded a similar courtesy during his screening by the Senate last July.

Another committee member, Senator James Manager, however, engaged Okorocha in heated exchange for insisting that the nominee be asked to take a bow and go.

He pointedly told him: “Senator Okorocha you are new here...you are new here.”

The committee chairman, however, intervened to calm the situation, conceding that it is true that Amaechi was asked to take a bow and go as a former Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

According to him,  the questions put to the nominee were serious issues that needed clarification.

Responding to the issues raised, the nominee, Ndem, alluded to the fact that there was omission in his resume, explaining that his first Ordinary Level Certificate which he obtained in 1995 was omitted, added that he got his school certificate result in 2007 so as to enable him study law after his HND programme.

Although the nominee promised to make his certificate available to the committee, he was however asked to take a bow and go.

The remaining 14 nominees whose names were earlier this week sent to the Senate for confirmation by President Muhammadu Buhari, had the courtesy of 'bow and go' extended to them by the committee.

First to be screened was a former Deputy Governor of Edo State, Dr. Pius Odubu (Edo) as Chairman of the NDDC board, and the nominee for the position of the Managing Director, Bernard Okumagba (Delta)

Odubu, a former member of the House of Representatives from 1999 to 2007, was asked to ‘take a bow and go’ in line with the parliamentary tradition of the Senate extending such courtesies to former members of the National Assembly nominated for appointment.

Okumagba, the NDDC MD nominee, was also asked to ‘take a bow and go’ after both the Chairman of the Committee, Nwaoboshi, and Senator Manager attested to his suitability for the job.

The other screened nominees were Maxwell Okoh (Bayelsa), for the position of Executive Director, Finance and Administration; Prophet Jones Erue (Delta); Chief Victor Ekhator (Edo) and Nwogu Nwogu (Abia).

Others are Theodore Allison (Bayelsa); Victor Antai (Akwa Ibom); Maurice Effiwatt (Cross River); Olugbenga Elema (Ondo); Hon. Uchegbu Chidiebere Kyrian (Imo); Dr. Yimbe Nunieh (Rivers); Northeast representatives were Ardo Zubairu (Adamawa), and Abdullahi Bage (Nasarawa), who will represent the North Central geopolitical zone.

The 16th nominee and representative of the Northwest zone, Aisha Murtala Muhammed Kano), was not available for screening yesterday.

The Committee, however, has mandated its chairman to screen the remaining nominee next Monday.

Earlier in his opening remarks, the committee chairman implored the nominees to put in their best towards the development of the Niger Delta region in the event of their confirmation by the Senate.

Speaking further, Nwaoboshi urged them to see their appointment as a call to service and a privilege to contribute their quota for the overall growth of the people and the communities.

Speaking on behalf of the nominees, Victor Ekhator thanked Nwaoboshi and the members of the committee for the opportunity to appear before them and promised to put in their best in the discharge of their duties.

He also thanked the committee chairman for being a true statesman, detribalised politician and a man who embraces everyone irrespective of their political affiliation.

President Buhari  had in a letter dated October 18 requested the Senate to confirm the nomination of a 16-man board for the NDDC.

In the two-paragraph letter addressed to the Senate President, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, and read at plenary last Tuesday, Buhari stated that "in accordance with the provision of section 2(2)(a) of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) (Establishment) Act, 2000, I write to forward for confirmation by the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria the under listed nominees for appointment into the NDDC board to occupy the positions indicated against their names."

The Senate President, Lawan, thereafter, referred the Buhari's request to the Senate Committee on Niger Delta headed by Senator Peter Nwaobosi, and has one week to report back to plenary.