By Our correspondent
The National Assembly’s delay in confirming President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s nominee for the North West Development Commission (NWDC) has raised widespread concerns, particularly among stakeholders in Jigawa State.
On September 28, 2024, Ambassador Haruna Ginsau, a seasoned diplomat and administrator from Jigawa State, was appointed Chairman of the NWDC’s governing board by President Bola Tinubu.
Article 4 of the Act establishing the NWDC states that “The office of the Chairman shall rotate amongst the member states of the commission in alphabetical order.”
This clause gives Jigawa state the advantage to produce the pioneer chairman of the board.
It was also gathered that the initiators of the Act had proposed this rotation to guard against a situation where the board’s Chairman and Managing Director of the NWDC would come from the same state.
However, the Senate’s October 24, 2024, decided to recall and amend the act establishing the NWDC, citing the fact that the Act did not give room for representation from other geopolitical zones
In an open letter to President Bola Tinubu, a group known as Northern Youth Ambassador for Peace and Development Initiative (NYAPDI) said it noticed that the Senate in carrying out the amendment removed the clause mandating the rotational chairmanship of the commission among member states
The letter signed by NYAPDI chairman Comrade Muhammad Sani read in part, “During the Senate proceedings on October 24, 2024, Article 4 of the act was amended, and the clause, “The office of the Chairman shall rotate amongst the member states of the commission in alphabetical order,” was removed.
The group said this is an attempt to marginalize Jigawa State, noting that this could pave the way for the chairmanship to be diverted to another state, undermining the trust and confidence of Jigawa’s people.
“Any reversal of Ambassador Haruna Ginsau’s appointment would be seen as a disheartening affront to this trust and to our collective contributions to the nation,” the group noted.
It therefore called on the federal government to prioritize fairness, equity, and justice in managing the commission’s affairs, saying that the delay in confirming Ambassador Ginsau’s appointment has further exacerbated tensions.
