Senator Marafa slams Governor Yari of Zamfara over rejected REC nominee presented by President Buhari

- Marafa says the rejection of Ahmed Mahmud was mainly from Zamfara state governor, Alhaji Abdul'aziz Abubakar Yari

- Marafa states that the governor's petition against Ahmed Mahmud defies the upper legislative chamber's laws

- The Senate president notes that the final decision on the issue of Ahmed Mahmud's rejection will wait until INEC submits its reports

Senator Kabiru Marafa spoke on the rejection of Ahmed Mahmud, nominated by President Muhammadu Buhari, as Zamfara's Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC). He disapproved of Governor Yari's rejection of the President Buhari's nominee.

After the Senate's rejection of Mahmud on Thursday, November 23, Marafa's intervention has made the house to agree on reconsidering the issue.

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Marafa said that the rejection of the nominee came from the governor who had earlier made a petition against Mahmud.

Referring to the petition as “null and void”, the senator explained that it was not followed by an affidavit. This, according to Marafa, was not in compliance with the upper legislative chamber's regulations, The Cable reported.

“Mr President you directed the matter back to the committee for further legislative action. I took that wise counsel from you that the committee will do the needful even when I know that there is nothing they can add to what they have done because their report was quite explicit and extensive,” he said.

“Mr President, order 1 (27) says ‘in considering the appointment of a nominee, the committee shall not call to witness any person as a witness other than the nominee himself.

“However, there may be a memorandum submitted to committee, if any such memorandum should contain the names of the writer, a verifiable address, a clear and dated signature and it shall be accompanied by an affidavit.

“It is very clear that the only opposition to this nominee is coming from the governor of Zamfara state who wrote to the president that the nominee is not from Zamfara state but from Sokoto state. My distinguished colleague from Zamfara north stood on the floor to say the nominee is from Kebbi state.

“The committee did a very good job when they said the nominee was born in Gusau, went to school in Anka, he served as the commissioner of justice in Zamfara for four years. The governor wrote a petition, he has a right to write a petition but he cannot violate our order – his petition is not accompanied with an affidavit, therefore his petition is null and void.

“I want to state very clearly that the governor has no right, this is senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, we are not his boys, I am not his boy and this senate cannot be his rubber stamp. We are not holding somebody’s future because of his interest.”

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Senate president, Bukola Saraki, noted that actions to be taken on the issue will remain pending until INEC submits its reports.

“Honestly, I sympathise with you but as you know parliament is a place of procedures. No matter how good the course may be, we must continue to respect procedures because that is the only way the institution will survive,” the Senate president stated.

Meanwhile, NAIJ.com reported that Asmau Maikudi who was one of the 27 nominees for the position of Resident Electoral Commissioner confirmed by the Senate had not received her appointment letter.

President Buhari had sent the names to the Senate in March, although their confirmation was delayed following a fallout between the presidency and the legislature.

Following weeks of negotiation, the Senate first confirmed the first batch of 15 nominees on Thursday, June 1, while of the remaining 12 candidates, Maikudi was the first on the list of eight that scaled through on Tuesday, June 20.

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Source: Naija.ng