The Nigerian Senate has confirmed the appointment of Professor Bolaji Owosanoye as the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), and eight others as members of the commission. It equally confirmed the appointment of Hon. Justice Uwani Musa Abba Aji, JCA as Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye hails from Osun (South-West). Other members confirmed as ICPC Board Members are: Dr. Grace N. Chinda is from Delta State, (South-South); Okolo Titus M is from Enugu (South-East); Barr. Obiora Igwedebia is from Absents State (South-East); Mrs. Olubukola Balogun is from Lagos State (South-West);

Justice Adams Bello is from Katrsina State (North-West); Hannatu Muhammed hails from Jigawa (North-West); Abdullahi Maikano Saidu is from Niger State (North Central);

Yahaya Umar Dauda is from Masseurs State (North-Central).

The confirmation followed the consideration of a report of Committee on Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes on the screening of nominees for confirmation as Chairman and members of the ICPC as presented by Senator Chukwuka Utazi.

Reacting to the confirmation, Senator Bassey Akpan said he was not contented with the selection process. He said: “In my opinion, I believe that leaving out the South-South and South-East does not go well with the selection process.”

Responding, Senator Ahmed Lawan, Senate majority leader, said: “We have consulted at the highest level during this process. Let us not delay any longer with the appointment of these people who will make the ICPC better.”

In his comment to the development, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki congratulated the Chairman and members, saying: “This is a very important Commission in governance and in our fight against corruption.”

“I wish them a successful tenure and hope they carry out the job before them in a transparent and professional manner devoid of politics.”

The confirmation of the appointment of Hon. Justice Abba Aji as Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria followed a report of the Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, submitted by the Chairman, Senator David Umaru.

Senate President, Bukola Saraki, who reacted on the development, congratulated the new Justice of the Supreme Court and expressed hope that “he would carry out this very important responsibility.”

Saraki said further that it is the moral duty of the Senate to ensure that this responsibility is in the interest of Justice and will continue to play an important role.

While commending effort of the committee members, he stated that “we received this communication from the president on December 6th and today, December 20th, we have treated this matter and showed our view on how important it is to ensure that the Judiciary is functional and efficient.”

He further tasked the Judiciary and Executive to take a cue from this and improve on the time frame to ensure that “there is no delay in replacing our Justices who are newly retired”.

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