The screening and confirmation for the appointment of Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa as President of the Court of Appeal, as well as that of Godwin Emefiele as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will hold on Wednesday, according to an announcement by Senate President David Mark.
Mark made the announcement on Tuesday during plenary after seeking the approval of senators the appointment of the two nominees to be considered and confirmed.
The leader of the Senate, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, who had presented President Jonathan’s request to his colleagues, said the confirmation was in accordance with Section 238(1) of the 1999 constitution. He also said the confirmation of Emefiele was in line with Section 81(1) and (2) of the CBN Act 2007.
Jonathan had sent Emefiele’s name for possible consideration and confirmation to the Senate on 20th February 2014, after announcing him as the successor of Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, who has been on suspension and whose tenure ends in June.
President Jonathan also forwarded Bulkachuwa’s name to the Senate on 19th March for confirmation as the new President of the Court of Appeal.
Briefing journalists after Tuesday’s plenary, spokesman of the Senate, Enyinnaya Abaribe explained that there was nothing unconstitutional about screening Emefiele before the expiration of Sanusi’s tenure.
According to him, “there is nothing in the constitution that says we should screen the new person only after the tenure of the incumbent. In fact, good sense means that we should screen the new person and go through all the processes so that on the day the tenure of the incumbent ends, he can handover to his successor”.
He said the screening of the duo would be televised live.
Also at the plenary, Mark directed all the committees in the Senate to submit their budget to the Appropriation Committee within 24 hours, saying failure to obey would make the Senate to pass the budget estimates as presented by the executive.
