Seven commissioners pass ‘vote of no confidence’ on Commission chairman, insist Omolori not qualified to be National Assembly Clerk
Seven of the 13 commissioners of the National Assembly Service Commission on Thursday passed a vote of no confidence on their Chairman, Dr Adamu Fika, over the appointment of the assembly clerk.
The commissioners, who made their position known in a letter to the chairman in Abuja, dissociated themselves from the appointment of Mr Mohammed Sani-Omolori as the Acting Clerk of National Assembly.
The letter, which was copied to the President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Yakubu Dogara, was signed by the seven.
The commissioners, who signed the letter included Malam Abubakar Rufai (North-West); Mr Idi Ningi (North-East); Mr Joseph Oru (South-South) and Mr Paul Oweh (South South).
Other signatories to the letter were Mr Stephen Yepwi (North Central); Mrs Oluwafunmilola Lamuye (South West) and Mr Abel Chukwu (South- East).
The commissioners said that contrary to reports, at the commission’s meeting of April 20, only one commissioner supported the appointment.
They also claimed that five opposed it while the remaining five were silent.
“Strangely, you ruled that the memo had carried and Mr Mohammed Sani-Omolori is appointed the Acting Clerk of the National Assembly.
“You went ahead to issue a letter of appointment to Mr Sani-Omolori right after the meeting against the commission’s norm of adopting the minutes of the meeting at another meeting before carrying out decisions taken.
“The above actions of yours have attracted undue negative publicity to the commission and greatly depleted our integrity,” the letter read.
They expressed displeasure over the actions of the Executive Chairman, noting that this was not the first time he had gone against the wishes of majority of the commissioners.
They recalled that at the November 14, 2015 meeting, the commission resolved to appoint Efeturi as Deputy Clerk and since then, the appointment had not been challenged.
They stressed that the Executive Chairman did not have unilateral power to take decisions alone.
“Although you are the chairman of the commission, you are not the commission.
“For the above reason, we cease to have confidence in your leadership and chairmanship of the Commission,” they said.
Controversy has continued to trail the appointment of Sani-Omolori as the Acting Clerk.
The president of the Senate had written to Fika to withdraw the appointment, stressing that Efeturi was the right person for the job.
However, the chairman wrote back to Saraki, insisting that Sani-Omolori was the right candidate for the job and that he was voted in by the commissioners.
