By ARMSTRONG ALLAHMAGANI, Bauchi –
A group, North-East Development Agenda, has said that only the enemies of the north-East Development Commission (NEDC), who are bent on holding on to power by all means and not by merit are opposing the reconstitution of the Board of the NEDC.
The group’s Chairman, Alhaji Salihu Magaji, stated this while speaking to journalists at a Press conference in Bauchi, on Monday.
“Those sponsoring these petitions are all out to derail the good intention of Mr President. We make bold to say that, we in the North-East region, will not support such persons with questionable characters who have deliberately shown tendencies, capable of eroding trust which is an important virtue of the agency.
“Therefore, we enjoin all our people to give maximum support to the direction the commission is heading under the able leadership of Goni Mohammed Alkali.
“With the reappointment of Alkali and other board members, there is no doubt that the NEDC is still focused and we must support genuine efforts and clear processes that will lead to the aspiration of our people.
” Presently, we are satisfied with all the interventions of the commission, it is doing the right thing in order to solve the problems bedeviled the region.
“We will not support entitlement mentality, It is not just about doing what is good but doing what is right,” he said.
Magaji said that the NEDC whose primary duty is to serve as an intervention agency to cater for the welfare of the people of the region, has provided interventions aimed at ameliorating the sufferings of the people.
According to him, as soon as the board of the commission was reconstituted, the Alkali-led NEDC facilitated N15 billion palliatives to the states of the North-East to prove that President Tinubu is concerned about the well being of the citizens of the country.
The group’s chairman therefore, dismissed the allegations being peddled in some quarters that the reappointment of the NEDC board was not done in accordance with the law.
He said that the appointment which was based on merit followed due process as stipulated in an existing gazetted law that established the commission quoting it as saying: “’The Chairman and other members of the Board shall be persons of proven integrity and ability and they most be appointed by the President, subject to confirmation by the Senate.’
“Article 3 of law said that ‘Subject to the provisions of section 4 of this Act, a member of the Board other than an ex-officio member, shall hold office for a term of 4 years at the first instance and may be re-appointed for another term of 4 years and no more.’ Here the constitution is specific.”
Speaking further, Magaji said: “The issue of rotation may arise when new board members are appointed as there is no law that says that the board members should not be reappointed as long as Mr President is the person who made the appointment. So, the reappointment of Major General Paul Tarfa, Goni Mohammed Alkali and other executive Directors followed due process and there is no law that can stop the President from reappointing them on that same position. There is equally no law that can stop the senate from confirming their reappointment.”
