Buhari’s nominee rejects NERC chairmanship nomination

The chairman-designate of Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Professor Akintunde Akinwande, has rejected his nomination by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The appointee’s absence at the Senate screening on Tuesday, stalled the screening of other nominees of the board.
A competent source told our correspondent that Akinwande turned down the nomination “because he was not consulted by the President before the nomination was made.”

In a list of nominees circulated by the Senate Committee on Power, Steel Development and Metallurgy, records of date of birth, qualification, specialization, experience and certificate of National Youth Service Corps, (NYSC) were missing in Akinwande’s column.

Of the seven nominees for the board appointment, only Akinwande had no records of his credentials. The source noted that they learnt that Akinwande is carrying out a project at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States of America.

“We also learnt that enough consultation was not made before the man was nominated. We wer informed that the nominee may have turned down his nomination.” he said.

The source noted that Akinwande also failed to avail himself to the Department of State Services (DSS) for security checks.‎ Chairman of the Committee, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, told reporters that there was no way the screening could go on in the absence of the chairman-designate.

Abaribe noted that the privatization of the electricity sector is meant to improve the sector. He added that the inauguration of the board of NERC is key to solving the problems of the sector.

“Regrettably, when members of the committee assembled to screen the nominees made by President Buhari, we were told that the chairman designate was unavoidably absent. The Presidential liaison who brought the nominees informed us that the chairman was unavoidably absent,” Abaribe said.

Read also: Thanks, but no, thanks, ambassadorial nominee tells Buhari

Abaribe further stated that there was no way the committee could go on with the screening without the chairman designate. He noted that since the nomination was made over three months ago, the Presidency should have known whether the chairman designate would attend the screening or not.

He said “the commission is vital and cannot function without a chairman.”

Abaribe who assured that the committee is ready to screen the nominees, added: “We cannot screen them until we have a formal communication from the Presidency.”

Other nominees for the board appointment included, Sanusi Garuba (Vice Chairman), Nathan R. Shatti (commissioner), Dr. Moses Arigu (commissioner), Dafe C. Akpeneye (commissioner), Prof. Frank Okafor (commissioner) and Musiliu O. Oseni (commissioner).‎

The rejection of the appointment is the the third in a series since last week when President Buhari forwarded a list of ambassadorial nominees to the Senate. A former deputy governor of Plateau state, PauIine Tallen rejected her appointment, claiming that her husband was ill and needed her care. Another ambassadorial nominee Usman Bugaje from Kastina state, also turned down his nomination by President Buhari.

Governors of the ruling APC said they complained to the president when they met him on Monday about the lopsidedness of nominations and appointments by the Federal government.

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