• Zakari, Soyebi, Lekki, Okoosi-Simbile as commissioners
• Applauds Akintola Williams’ contribution to national devt
THE National Council of State (NCS) rose from its first meeting under the administration of Muhammadu Buhari with the ratification of his recommendation for the appointment of the immediate past Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, as the new chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The NCS also approved recommendation to name the Acting Chairman of the commission, Amina Bala Zakari, as a national commissioner of the electoral agency.
Another former Acting Chairman of the commission, Prince Solomon Adedeji Soyebi, Dr. Muhammad Mustapha Lekki and Dr. Taiye Okoosi-Simbile are also approved as national commissioners.
Briefing State House correspondents after the meeting, which lasted for about one hour inside the Council Chambers, Sokoto State Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal alongside his Abia State counterpart, Dr. Ifeanyi Ikpeazu, said Buhari’s action followed the retirement of most of the national commissioners in place during the last dispensation.
A Professor of History, Yakubu served as the Assistant Secretary in charge of Finance and Administration of the National Conference. If their appointments are ratified by the Senate, Mrs. Zakari from Jigawa State and Soyebi from Ogun State would be serving their second terms as INEC national commissioners.
While Zakari’s term just ended, that of Soyebi who in acting capacity, handed over to the immediate past INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, following the removal of Prof. Maurice Iwu in 2011, is staging his second come back.
According to Tambuwal: “At its first meeting in the life of this administration, the council received a memo on the nomination of chairman and five commissioners for INEC which is in conformity with the provisions of the constitution of Nigeria particularly Sections 154 (1&3) and 156 (3) that confers on the President the powers to appoint a chairman and National Commissioners of INEC, in consultation with the Council of States.
“The situation in INEC as at today is such that requires this emergency meeting to approve the nominations by Mr. President, because the law requires that a minimum of four commissioners should form a quorum in INEC, which is not the case as today, because the tenures of 11 commissioners had expired.
“In line with this, the Council considered and confirmed the appointments of Prof. Mahmood Yakubu as chairman of INEC, Mrs. Amina Bala Zakari as member representing North West, Dr. Antonia Taiye Okoosi-Simbile as commissioner North Central, Alhaji Baba Shettima Arfo, from Borno as commissioner representing North East, Dr, Mohammed Mustapha Lekki from Edo as commissioner representing South South and Prince Soyebi Adedeji Solomon from Ogun representing South West.”
The Presidency, however, clarified that the non-appointment of a Commissioner from the South East was because the tenure of Ambassador Lawrence Nwuruku from Ebonyi State who is occupying the slot for the region, expires next year.
Explaining the decision of Council to stagger the ratification of nominations of the Commissioners, Tambuwal said it was designed to prevent a possible vacuum in the case of mass resignations as was experienced in the recent past.
“The Council has agreed to stagger the confirmation of appointment of commissioners of INEC in view of the situation we found ourselves at present whereby the tenures of individual commissioners expired almost over the same time. So to avert a reoccurrence, the Council has agreed that the next six commissioners should be submitted subsequently for its approval. “These names have been approved and would be transmitted to the National Assembly for confirmation.”
When asked whether the conduct of Kogi and Bayelsa polls came up for discussion, Tambuwal said it did not.
“It is not a matter for the Council to go into. It is a matter strictly under the purview of the commission itself, so it didn’t come up at the Council meeting,” he said:
Clarifying on who supervises the governorship elections in Kogi and Bayela States, Tambuwal said: “Obviously, the new chairman and members of the commission will take charge. I have said earlier on that we need a quorum for the commission to function and that is why Mr. President in his wisdom summoned this emergency meeting for us to approve these names. So I’m sure it is the new chairman that will now supervise and conduct the elections in Kogi and Bayelsa.”
Meanwhile, on the occasion of this year’s Akintola Williams Distinguished Lecture Series, Buhari has commended Mr. Akintola Williams, the acclaimed doyen of the accounting profession in Nigeria, in whose honour the annual lectures were established.
Buhari, in a statement by his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina applauded the continuing contributions of Williams to national progress and development, even at the grand age of 96, through the lecture series which were established to promote integrity, professionalism and sound corporate governance in Nigeria.
Buhari also commended the organisers of the annual lecture series on their choice of “Leadership Factors and Good Corporate Governance – Key to National Growth and Development,” as the theme of this year’s lecture.
According to the statement, “the President prays that God Almighty, who has blessed Mr. Williams with such extraordinary longevity in the service of his nation and humanity, will grant him many more years of good health and worthy contributions to the development of his fatherland.”
