Senate Rejects 46 Non-Career Diplomats …As Buhari’s Ambassadorial List Falls Again …Moves To Avert Expanded ASUU Strike

Senators yesterday took turn, to lambast some nominees for career Ambassadors who could not recite the Nigerian Anthem and National Pledge during their screening recently.

It would be recalled that four out of the 47 nominees who attended Senate screening in August this year fumbled when the committee asked them to recite the National Anthem.

Submitting the report on the floor of the Senate, the Chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Monsurat Sunmonu, admitted that four nominees could not recite the Anthem and National Pledge, but the committee overlooked it when those concerned pleaded, and also promised that they would improve on it, when appointed.

The decision of the committee to screen all and recommend 47 names on the list, despite their shortcomings, did not go down well with some senators who could not withhold their dissatisfaction.

Senator Peter Nwaoboshi (Delta North) queried the committee for screening and recommending the 47 nominees, despite their shortcomings during the screening exercise.

“Why did the committee recommend everybody on the list,” Nwaoboshi probed.

He condemned the submissions of the committee and added that someone who could not recite the Anthem of his or her country should not be made to represent same country in foreign land.

Also speaking, Senator Tijani Yahaya Laura (Zamfara North) expressed concern that the 116 foreign missions have remained inactive for months, due to inability of the Federal Government to send her diplomats to occupy those vacant positions.

The Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, Deputy Minority Leader, Bala Ibn Na’allah and Senator James Manager (Delta South), however, saved the day by convincing the Senate to confirm the nomination of the 47 career Ambassadors, saying that anxieties may have been responsible for their failure to recite the Anthem.

The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, therefore led the Senate into the committee of the whole where the 47 nominees were confirmed.

Similarly, the Senate yesterday rejected the 46 non-career ambassadorial nominees sent to it by President Muhammadu Buhari for legislative approval.

The lawmakers said the list will be sent back to President Muhammadu Buhari “for resubmission and re-jigging.”

Some notable nominees are retired Justices of the Supreme Court, Justice George Oguntade; former deputy governor of Plateau State, Mrs. Paulen Tallen; former member of the House of Representatives, Usman Bugaje; and former deputy governor of Niger State, Ahmed Ibeto.

The nominees are Dr Uzoma Emenike (Abia), Dr Clifford Zirra (Adamawa), Maj-Gen Godwin Umo (rtd) (Akwa Ibom), Christopher Okeke (Anambra), Yusuf Tugar (Bauchi), Baba Madugu (Bauchi), Brig-Gen Stanley Diriyai (Bayelsa), Dr Enyantu Ifenne (Benue), Mohammed Hayatuddeen (Borno), and Dr. Etubom Asuquo (Cross River).

Also on the list are Francis Efeduma (Delta), Jonah Odo (Ebonyi), Uyagwe Igbe (Edo), Ayodele Ayodeji (Ekiti), Maj-Gen Chris Eze (rtd)(Enugu), Suleiman Hassan (Gombe), Amin Muhammad Dalhatu (Jigawa), Muhammad Yaro (Kaduna), Deborah Iliya (Kaduna), Prof D. Abdulkadir (Kano), Haruna Ungogo (Kano), Justice lsa Dodo (Katsina), Dr. Usman Bugaje (Katsina), Prof. Tijjani Bande (Kebbi), Prof Y. O. Aliu (Kogi) and Nuruddeen Mohamed (Kwara).

Others are Prof Mohamed Yisa (Kwara), Justice George Adesola Oguntade (rtd)(Lagos), Senator Olorunimbe Mamora (Lagos), Modupe Irele (Lagos), Musa Ilu Muhammad (Nasarawa), Ade Asekun (Ogun), Sola Iji (Ondo), Adegboyega Ogunwusi (Osun), Maj-Gen Ashimiyu Olaniyi (rtd) (Oyo), and Dr Haruna Bawa Abdullahi (Plateau).

Orji Ngofa (Rivers), Justice Sylvanus Adiewere Nsofor (Rivers), Jamila Ahmadu-Suka (Sokoto), Kabiru Umar (Sokoto), Mustapha Jaji (Taraba), Goni Modu Zanna Bura (Yobe), Garba Gajam (Zamfara) and Cpt. Abdullahi Uba Garbasi (Zamfara) were also nominated.

It would be recalled that some state governors had protested against their non-involvement in the selection of the non-career ambassadorial nominees by Buhari.

Tallen and Bugaje had rejected their nominations, citing failure to duly consult them.

Imo State and the Federal Capital Territory, which had representatives among the 47 career ambassadorial nominees, did not get any nominees in the non-career batch.

Meanwhile, Senate yesterday moved to avert an impending full blown strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the umbrella body of Nigerian lecturers.

ASUU had at the weekend issued a threat to embark on a warning strike today, to protest Federal Government’s inability to comply with agreements reached with the union since 2009.

To forestall the warning strike and avert a possible full blown action by the lecturers, Senate mandated its President, Bukola Saraki to quickly intervene in the matter with a view to stopping the planned strike.

This resolution followed a point of order from Chairman, Senate Committee on Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), Barau Jibrin, who called on the senate to as a matter of urgent public importance, intervene in the matter.

Jibrin admitted the need for the Federal Government to implement 2009 agreement with the union; worried that if government continues to forsake the demands of the lecturers, it could hold dire consequences for the country’s universities.

Aside issues of funding for the universities and welfare of lecturers, a major demand of ASUU is for the FG to exempt universities from its TSA policy.

Senator Danjuma Goje (Gombe Central) while seconding the motion, stressed the need to nip the planned strike in the bud; calling on the Federal Government to engage ASUU and for the Senate to Intervene.

“The issue of strike has been a recurring decimal in Nigeria. But for a long time, we have not heard of it. So, when ASUU said it would embark on strike it was a big concern for many of us who are parents”, he said.

Goje’s position was backed by Senator Emmanuel Paulker (Bayelsa Central) and Senate Leader, Ali Ndume.

According to them, the President of the Senate should be mandated to wade into the matter, before it degenerates into full blown strike.

Apart from mandating the Senate President to intervene in the matter, the Senate also urged the Federal Government to engage with ASUU and ensure that its entitlements are captured in the 2017 budget.