Okorocha shields Buhari’s NDDC nominee, despite qualifications discrepancy
Amild drama broke out at the screening of President Muhammadu Buhari’s nominees for the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) when a former governor of Imo State, Senator Rochas Okorocha, shielded a nominee by asking him to take a bow and go, despite discrepancies noticed in the nominee’s curriculum vitae (CV) by his colleagues.
Take a ‘bow and go’ is a special privilege accorded to former legislators and friends of the National Assembly.
At the screening, committees are expected to review nominees’ credentials, background and qualifications and report back to the Senate at plenary for confirmation.
A heated argument ensued when the nominee for the post of Executive Director Projects of the commission, introduced himself as ‘Right Honourable’ Otobong Ndem from Akwa Ibom State.
Ndem, who keenly awaited the privilege of take a ‘bow and go’ in line with the parliamentary tradition, fell into trouble when discrepancies in chronology of his educational progression were noticed.
A member of the Senate committee on the NDDC, Senator Matthew Urhoghide, drew the attention of his colleagues to the inconsistency in Ndem’s curriculum vitae.
“From the CV before me, the nominee had a school certificate in 2007, National Diploma in 1999 and Higher National Diploma in 2002,” he wondered.
Senator George Sekibo also pointed out that Ndem claimed to have obtained his master’s degree in 2012 and Bachelor of Science degree in 2019.
Ndem was subsequently asked to explain the inconsistencies in the qualification dates.
Before Ndem answered, Senator Okorocha said since Ndem had served in the Akwa Ibom State
House of Assembly, he should be asked to “take a bow and go.”
The nominee also faced another challenge when Sekibo queried his use of the title - Right Honourable.
Sekibo said, “As a former member of the House of Assembly, were you a speaker or deputy speaker? If no, why did you prefix your name with ‘Right Honourable’?
Senator James Manager challenged Okorocha for insisting that the nominee should ‘take a bow and go’.
“Sen. Okorocha, you are new here. You should know that there are ranking senators here,” he said, while Okorocha jokingly replied “You are due for retirement.”
The Senate committee Chairman, Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, however, intervened to calm the situation. He noted that the questions asked the nominee were serious questions that need clarifications.
The nominee admitted that there was an omission in his CV. Ndem said he first obtained his first Ordinary Level Certificate in 1995 which was omitted in his CV, adding that he sat for another WASC examination in 2007 to enable him study law after his HND programme.
He promised to avail the committee with the 1995 certificate before he was asked to take a bow and go.
However, he failed to address how he obtained his master’s degree in 2012 and Bachelor of Science degree in 2019.