South Daily
Related Articles
There was drama and heated argument at the senate on Thursday as the newly appointed NDDC Board undergoes screening at the senate.
The heated argument ensued when the senate noticed discrepancies on the Curriculum Vitae of the nominated Executive Director on project, Otobong Ndem.
They Argued that whether Otobong Ndem, should be allowed take a bow and go.
Odubu and Okumagba were the first to be screened on Thursday.
READ ALSO: NDDC Board Nominees: See the Names Buhari Sent to Senate for confirmation
Odubu, a House of Representatives member from 1999 to 2007, was asked to “take a bow and go” in line with the parliamentary tradition of the Senate to extend such courtesies to former members of the National Assembly nominated for appointment.
Okumagba was also asked to “take a bow and go” after the committee’s chairman Senator Peter Nwaoboshi and Senator James Manager attested to his suitability for the job.
There was, however, drama when Ndem appeared before the committee.
Senator Matthew Urhoghide pointed out some discrepancies in Ndem’s curriculum vitae and sought to know why his educational progression was not chronological.
READ MORE: NDDC Operations: Buhari Order Forensic Audit as Dickson call for repositioning
For instance, the lawmaker pointed out that from the CV, Ndem had his school certificate in 2007, National Diploma in 1999 and a Higher National Diploma in 2002.
Senator George Sekibo noted that the nominee also claimed to have obtained his master’s degree in 2012 and Bachelor of Science degree in 2019.
The Senator asked Ndem, a former Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly member, why he described himself as “right honourable”.
“As a former member of the House of Assembly, were you a Speaker or Deputy Speaker? If no, why did you prefix your name with the words ‘Right Honourable?” Sekibo asked.
Another member of the committee, Senator Rochas Okorocha, said since Ndem served in a House of Assembly, he should be allowed to “take a bow and go”.
He recalled that the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, being a former Rivers State House of Assembly member, was accorded a similar courtesy during his screening by the Senate.
YOU MAY ALSO WANT TO READ: Jail NDDC Looters, Ex-militant urges Buhari
This suggestion generated a heated argument among the committee members.
Senator Manager engaged Okorocha in heated exchange for insisting that the nominee be asked to take a bow and go.
President Muhammadu Buhari sent the nominees list to the Senate on Tuesday for confirmation amid stakeholders’ protests, days after he ordered a forensic audit of NDDC.
The nominees are Dr Odubu (Edo); Okumagba (Delta), Executive Director Projects Otobong Ndem (Akwa Ibom), Executive Director Finance and Administration Maxwell Okoh (Bayelsa), Prophet Jones Erue (Delta State representative), Chief Victor Ekhatar (Edo), Dr. Joy Yimebe Nunieh (Rivers) and Nwogu Nwogu (Abia).
Others are Theodore A. Allison (Bayelsa); Victor Antai (Akwa Ibom); Maurice Effiwatt (Cross River); Olugbenga Elema (Ondo); Uchegbu Kyrian (Imo); Aisha Murtala Muhammed (Kano, Northwest representative), Ardo Zubairu (Adamawa, Northeast representative) and Badmus Mutalib (Lagos, Southwest Representative).
