Igbo lawyers urge Buhari to withdraw PenCom DG nominee

Lawyers under the aegis of the influential Otu Oka Iwu (Law Society) have asked President Mohammadu Buhari to “immediately withdraw” the nomination of Hajia Aisha Dahir-Umar to replace disengaged Director General of the Pension Commission (PENCOM), Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, warning him against breaching the 1999 Constitution and the Pension Reform Act 2014.

In a statement by its President, Joy Nzube-Uzoeghelu, the lawyers expressed “shock and dismay” at the “flagrant disregard of the enabling law setting up the commission,” warning that “The propensity of the Buhari Administration to ride roughshod over Nigeria’s Constitution and extant laws is a grave threat to the rule of law and to Nigeria’s unity.

“It is deeply troubling that while the president was preaching unity as a hallmark of Nigeria’s 60th anniversary celebration, he has exhibited an unparalleled level of cronyism never witnessed in the history of our country,” said the Igbo lawyers’ union.

“In practical terms, President Buhari has done more to foster centrifugal forces in the country than to promote unity, even as he preaches ‘togetherness’ in commemoration of Nigeria’s 60th anniversary. The latest nomination is yet another infamous example in a landscape littered with consistent lopsided appointments.”

The law society stated that “save for mischief or unbridled self-interest, there is unquestionable clarity from Section 21(2) of the Pension Reform Act (PRA), 2014 that ‘In the event of a vacancy, the President shall appoint a replacement from the geopolitical zone of the immediate past member that vacated office to complete the remaining tenure.’ Clearly, the nominee should come from the South East zone as the former Director General who was ousted by the Federal Government under hazy circumstances.

“The nomination equally breaches the 1999 Constitution, the Federal Character Commission (Establishment, Etc) Act and the oath of office sworn to by Mr. President to be fair to all Nigerians irrespective of their ethnic affiliation. (Daily Sun)