The Senate on Wednesday confirmed the appointment of Ahmed Kuru as managing director of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) and Bello Hassan as managing director of the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC).
The Senate also confirmed the appointment of Mustapha Mohammed Ibrahim as executive director (Operations) of the NDIC.
This followed the presentation and consideration of the report on screening of the nominees by the lawmakers.
Giving insight into the report on AMCON appointees, the Senate Committee Chairman on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions, Uba Sani, said Ahmed Kuru (as managing director), Eberechukwu Uneze (as executive director) and Aminu Ismail (as executive director) possessed the requisite knowledge and qualifications to be re-appointed.
Sani stressed that during the screening exercise, no petition was received against any of the appointees, adding that they had all been cleared by the police and State Security Service (SSS).
Bello Hassan (as managing director) and Mustapha Ibrahim (as executive director) were also confirmed by the Senate to head NDIC after being screened by the committee.
When Senate President Ahmed Lawan presented the nominations to the Committee of Whole for vote, they were unanimously endorsed and consequently confirmed.
While formally announcing the confirmation, Lawan congratulated the appointees and wished them well in their endeavours.
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It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari on December 18 forwarded the names of Hassan and Ibrahim as NDIC MD/CE and (ED (OPs) nominees, respectively, to the Senate for screening and confirmation.
Before his appointment as NDIC’s MD/CE, Hassan was the director, Banking Supervision Department of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), a position to which he was appointed in February 2020. Prior to that, he served in the Operations Directorate and as director, Other Financial Institutions Department of the apex bank.
A seasoned and consummate bank examiner of over three decades, Bello joined the services of the CBN in 1990 after a stint with the Katsina State Ministry of Finance.
At the CBN, Hassan also represented the apex bank on the board of different flagship public corporations including the NDIC, Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), Financial Institutions Training Center (FITC), FMDQ Clear Ltd., and Governing Council of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN).
Meanwhile, the joint committees on Defence, Army, Air Force and Navy have been mandated to screen the service chiefs with a timeline of two weeks to submit their report.
They new service chiefs are Major-General Leo Irabor, Chief of Defence Staff; Major-General Ibrahim Attahiru, Chief of Army Staff; Rear Admiral Awwal Gambo, Chief of Naval Staff and Air-Vice Marshal Ishiaka Amao, Chief of Air Staff.
The president’s nominees for the appointment as non-career ambassadors-designate were also referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs.
The Senate Committee on Finance was also mandated to screen Larry Chukwu, who was appointed as Commissioner for the Nigerian Law Reform Commission by the president.
Coming under a point of order, Philip Aduda said the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) was omitted from the non-career ambassador and called on the president to give the territory a slot.
Bills on ‘Chartered Institute of Forensic Investigative Professionals of Nigeria (Establishment) Bill 2021’; ‘Federal Medical Centres (Establishment) Bill 2021’; ‘Federal University Lafia Teaching Hospital (Establishment) Bill 2021’; ‘National Unity Day Bill 2021’ and ‘Emergency Powers Bill 2021’ were all read for the first time on the floor of the Senate.
