…says bypassing Senate contravenes Constitution
A Coalition of Civil Society Groups, Monday, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately reverse appointment of Board North East Development Commission, NEDC, and the Managing Director, MD, or face legal action.
They called on the president to revere the order or meet them in court with a 72-hour ultimatum, saying bypassing the Senate contravenes constitutional provision.
The CSOs made the call in an address signed by the leaders including Secretary, Coalition of Civil Society Groups, Abubakar Ibrahim; President, First Alliance Group, Olumide Kingsley Egbeola; Convener, Centre for Public Accountability, Akindele Oluwafemi; President, African Leadership Strategy & Transparency Development Initiative, Nelson Osaize; and President, Northern Nigeria Good Governance Forum, Ibrahim Sule.
In the address read during a press conference held in Abuja, the Coalition said Buhari’s directive to bypass the Senate’s confirmation of the board and MD of NEDC was a deliberate affront on the Constitution and subverting the process of appointing public office holders, therefore, declared unconstitutional.
The Coalition said: “Our attention has been drawn to the recent unconstitutional role played by Mr President in the recent appointment he did barely few days to handover.
“We are worried that, why the hurry in confirming an appointment made by him without the senate ratifying same as laid down by appointment procedure stated in Section 147 of the constitution, that such appointments made by President and not confirmed by the senate shall be null and void.
“This breach of constitutional provisions will not stand. We condemn the action of the outgoing president in the strongest term. The action is condemnable and totally unacceptable.
“We declare that the new board must be cleared by the Nigerian Senate before they resume and therefore call on President Buhari to reverse his earlier decision ordering them to resume officer without the clearance of the Nigeria Senate and allow a senior officer in the commission to hold sway pending the confirmation of the newly appointed managing director and Chief executive officer and other board members.
“We thus see the recent declaration and directive to resume office without Senate confirmation as autocratic, undemocratic and above all reminds us of Military regime which should not be brought into any democratic process.
“This directive for the new Board and Managing Director of NEDC appointed by President Buhari to resume office without confirmation from the senate confirmation is wrong and should not make to stand.”
The Coalition also queried, “The question to ask is, why did Mr President gave such directive to resume office in acting capacity pending when the Senate will confirm or rectify the newly appointed Managing Director of the Commission and others.
“This declaration of resumption setting aside Senate confirmation is unconstitutional and should not be supported when we have few days to go for this regime.
“The North East Development Commission is by extension creation of National Assembly, thus the management and board must be ratified by the Senate in conformity with laid down rules. This is important so as to ensure we have right people that can deliver on the mandate to lead the organization and activate the oversight functions of same institution.
“The argument of vacuum been created before Senate confirmation is laughable, does it mean that nobody can act within the commission pending when senate screens and approves their appointments. The process of under-going senate screening is constitutional and should not be jettisoned for illegality.
Meanwhile, the Coalition claimed that, “There is nothing to hurry about as our findings shows that we have capable hands that can direct the activities effectively for the commission while we await senate screening and confirmation.
“We hereby call on President Buhari to as a matter of urgency to revert back to the old order. The decision of the newly appointed MD to resume duty is wrong and should not be one of the negative legacies the outgoing government will leave behind.
“We must adhere to our laid down rules and laws, this should not be circumvented at any point in time. The power of the Senate should not be undermined nor swept under the carpet.
The group called on Nigerians to join them to stop the alleged illegality and impunity demonstrated by Buhari.
“We also expect all well spirited Nigerians to rise up now and let’s make President Buhari to do the right thing and put in place sound legacy few days to exit from office. Recall, that same wrong decision was taken few years back (2015) when some Vice Chancellors were wrongly sacked based on wrong advice from the under-performing Minister of Education by Mr President.
“Although the sack was not reversed, when the facts were laid in protest against the decision, President Buhari eventually apologized for the wrong decision.
“We expect the same quick reversal of the directive given for the resumption of Umar Abubakar Hashidu as Managing Director of NEDC and others.
“This call becomes imperative and important for the right thing to be done and for the state actors not to unilaterally set aside our standing rules based on their personal interest.
They also urged the Senate to rise up and act to stop the move, “The outgoing senate should also stand up and at least show they are independent rather than rubber stamp or extended arm of the Executive.
“Their constitutional duty should not be set aside; we expect them to resist any attempt to further make them become appendages of the Executive even as we have few days to handover.”
In conclusion, the Coalition threatened to take legal action against the President if he fails to reverse his appointment within 72 hours.
“Lastly, we make bold to say that if this decision is not reversed in 72 hours, we shall approach the court and seek justice”, the Coalition added.
