Buhari asks NEDC board nominees to assume duty without Senate confirmation

Nominated members of the new Governing Council of the North East Development Commission (NEDC) have taken over affairs of the commission without Senate approval, Daily Trust Saturday reports.

This followed a directive by President Muhammadu Buhari, which directed the new managing director and chief executive officer of the NEDC, Umar Abubakar Hashidu and other members of the board to resume work.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, in a statement on Friday, noted that this followed the expiration of the tenure of the former board on May 7, 2023.

He stated that President Buhari had directed the immediate completion of handover formalities in the organisation to avoid a vacuum in the day-to-day running of the commission, pending the confirmation by the Senate.

Daily Trust Saturday gathered that the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Sadiya Umar, on Friday, swore in the new members.

A statement signed by the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Affairs, Dr Nasir Sani-Gwarzo, who represented the minister, said approval had been granted for the immediate resumption of the new board in acting capacity, pending confirmation by the Senate.

“The governing board comprises Suwaiba Idris Baba, executive director, Humanitarian Affairs (North East, Taraba); Musa Umar Yashi, executive director, Administration and Finance, (North East, Bauchi)l Dr Ismaila Nuhu Maksha, executive director, Operations (North East, Adamawa) and Umar Abubakar Hashidu, managing director,chief executive officer (North East, Gombe)..

“Others are Onyeka Gospel-Tony, member, (South East); Mrs Hailmary Ogolo Aipoh, member (South-South); Air Commodore Babatunde Akanbi (retd), member (South West); Mustapha Ahmed Ibrahim, member (North West); Hadiza Maina, member (North Central); Alhaji Grema Ali, member (North East) and a representative from the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National planning,” the statement noted.

Our correspondents report that soon after the formalities of swearing the board members in, they were taken to Maiduguri in a chartered flight, where they took over.

Before the latest takeover, it was learnt that the former managing director, Mohammed G. Alkali, was directed to hand over to a director from the Humanitarian Affairs Ministry.

Sources in Abuja and Maiduguri, the headquarters of the commission, told Daily Trust Saturday that they were appalled with the latest development.

Recall that Buhari had in a letter addressed to Senate President Ahmad Lawan on May 3, 2023, asked the Senate to confirm the appointment of the 12 nominees as members of the Governing Board of the NEDC.

“The Senate is invited to note that the tenure of the current Governing Board of the North East Development Commission ended on May 7, 2023,” Buhari said.

But our findings revealed that the Senate has not acted on the letter, considering that some high profile stakeholders from Borno and the North East in general were not comfortable with the nomination.

One of them said, “Of course, the president has the power to appoint new board members, but the truth is that he was pressured by the humanitarian affairs minister and others to approve those names.

“Sadly, relevant stakeholders were not consulted, and being an intervention agency, there must be the buy-in of people from the region on those that should be on the board. This was not done before the names were submitted to the Senate,” he said.

Another source said they were surprised that the new board members were sworn in without Senate approval.

“Everyone is surprised at the desperation to appoint a new management team for the commission. Those behind these moves are not being fair to the system,” he said.

Daily Trust Saturday could not hear from the Senate on why the nominees were not screened yet.