Paul Tarfa, Frank Owhor, Mohammed Alkali, others make it to board of North East Development Commission

Paul Tarfa, Frank Owhor, Mohammed Alkali, others make it to board of North East Development Commission

By Jonas Happy

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has sent the names of members of the board of the North East Development Commission to the Senate for confirmation.

President of the Senate,  Senator Godswill Akpabio Wednesday read a letter from the President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

In it, the president urged the Senate to urgently Confirm the appointment of the Commission’s chairman, General Paul Tarfa (Rtd) as well as 12 other members of the management board.

They are Frank Owhor (Rivers) who is expected to represent the South South on the board, Hon Tanko Maikau (Taraba), Abdullahi Abba (Kano), Sir Stephen Ondura (North Central), Chief Motiu Lawal Are (Lagos), and Samuel Ifeanyi Umuigbo (Abia).

Also forwarded for confirmation as members of the board are Mohammed Alkali from Borno who would serve as the Commission’s Managing Director, Musa Yashi, Executive Director, Humanitarian Affairs (Bauchi), Ahmed Abdusalam Yahaya, Executive Director (Gombe), Dr. Abubakar Garba, Executive Director, Admin & Finance (Yobe) and two representatives from the Ministry of Finance, Budget & National Planning.

Senate moves to eradicate age barrier:

Also on Wednesday,  the Senate resolved to do away with a precondition for employment in the country based on age.

The Senate agreed to urge the Federal Ministry of Labour, Employment and Productivity to, immediately draw up policies that relate to equality of opportunity and treatment in access to employment at all levels.

It urged the Federal Ministry of Labour, Employment and Productivity, as well as other relevant Agencies to prohibit and discourage public and private employers in Nigeria, from putting up job adverts with inherent undertone calculated to deprive any qualified Nigeria from being gainfully employed merely by reason of his/her age.

The Senate further urged the Civil Service Commission and Office of the Head of the Civil Service to immediately revise their guidelines on appointments and promotions in the Federal Civil Service in order to remove such impediments relating to conditions of appointment in the Federal Civil Service on account of age.

The motion which received support on the floor was moved by Senator Abba Moro.

Senators set up ad-hoc committee on collapsed roads, erosion sites:

Meanwhile, another motion moved by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin and 54 others asking Senators to set up an Ad-hoc Committee to produce a compendium of all collapsed Federal roads and erosion sites across the country has sailed through.

It also resolved that Federal roads and erosion sites for which contracts have been awarded but abandoned by contractors and others yet to be awarded should be forwarded to the Executive Arm for urgent intervention.