Nomineesa�� Confirmation: Presidency begs Senate to lift embargo

By Ignatius Okorocha ignatius
The Presidency on Monday begged the Senate to lift its embargo on non-screening and confirmation of nominees forwarded to it since last year.
The plea by the Presidency came when the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions screened two nominees as deputy governors of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and four others as members of the apex bank’s Monitoring Policy Committee (MPC).
While introducing the six nominees to the committee members, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Ita Enang, urged the Upper House to extend its magnanimity to other nominees forwarded to it by President Muhamadu Buhari since last year.
He said: “I want to on behalf of the Executive thank the Senate for the resolution made last week which the paved way for screening of presidential nominees for CBN deputy governorship positions and members of the banka��s Monetary Policy Committee.
“May I on behalf of the Executive plead with the Senate to extend its magnanimity on these nominees to other ones already forwarded to it like executives and board members of various agencies,” he said.
But the Committeea��s Chairman, Senator Rafiu Adebayo Ibrahim, interjected by saying that the gesture given to the CBN nominees was a special because of the economic implications of non-screening and confirming them.
According to him, the non-confirmation of the nominees by the Senate prevented the MPC meeting of the CBN from holding in January and even today (yesterday) 19th March, 2018.
The reason, he said led to last Tuesdaya��s resolution of the senate to screen and confirm the nominees for the various CBN positions.
The nominees screened by the Senate on Monday were Mrs. Aisha Ahmad from Niger State and Edward Adamu from Gombe State as CBN deputy governors.
Others were Prof. Adeola Adenikinju, Dr. Aliyu Rafindadi Sanusi, Dr. Robert Asogwa and Dr. Asheikh Maidugu, as members of MPC.
The Senate had last year in reaction to the remarks of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo that the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Magu, needed not to be confirmed by the Senate before assuming office in substantive capacity, placed an embargo on all presidential nominees for positions in agencies not listed in the constitution.