The Senate on Tuesday ordered two civil society organisations to tender an apology to the President, Major Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), for writing what it termed frivolous petitions against two of the persons that Buhari nominated to be members of the Code of Conduct Bureau.
The Senate ordered the CSOs, Save The Soul Transparency; and Eagle Eyes International Foundation, to tender the apology and publish it in a national newspaper within seven days, otherwise, their registration would be revoked.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions, Senator Ayo Akinyelure, gave the order during the screening of the five nominees.
Murtala Kankia of Katsina State is nominated to represent the North-West; Zephaniah Bulus of Nasarawa is nominated to represent the North Central; and Farouq Umar of Yobe State is nominated to represent the North-East.
Others are Abdulsalam Olawale from Ondo State, who is nominated to represent the South-West, and Prof. Juwayriya Badamasiuy from Kogi State, who is nominated to represent the North Central.
The foundation’s Chief Research Officer, Dr George Davidson, had petitioned the Senate, requesting that Messrs. Murtala Kankia and Zephaniah Ishaku Bulus be disqualified.
The petitioner claimed that the President nominated the two people despite the fact that they were not constitutionally qualified to hold the offices they were nominated for.
Davidson stated that the appointment of Kankia and Bulus would desecrate the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Section 156 (1a), which, according to him, forbids a member of the CCB from belonging to a political party.
He insisted that the two nominees should be disqualified because of their membership of a political party.
The committee, however, struck out the petition for lacking in merit and substance.
The panel chairman said, “The petition is an affront to the President of Nigeria because he is being accused of making appointments contrary to Nigeria’s constitution.
“The only statutory agency of the Federal Government that politicians cannot be nominated as members of is the Independent National Electoral Commission.
“This petition is hereby struck out. The Save the Soul Transparency and Eagle Eyes International Foundation should write a letter of apology to the President and copy the committee because this is an affront to the President.
“The letter must be written within seven days and published in three newspapers. Otherwise, their certificate of operation should be revoked by the Registrar General of the CAC because they are misleading Nigerians.
“The committee hereby rules that the nominees of the President as members of the Code of Conduct Bureau are qualified to be appointed.
“They have been cleared by the Inspector-General of Police, and we also found nothing against them.”
