POLITICAL NOTES
Senate’s Deferment of Magu’s Confirmation

The Senate on Thursday postponed the screening of acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, and other member-nominees of the commission because of poor attendance of senators at plenary.

This is an unfortunate development. Even the assertion by the senate deputy majority leader, Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah, that the senators were on oversight functions in different parts of the country does not explain why the upper chamber did not have the right number of senators at the session to screen the appointees.

Oversight duties are not meant to disturb the plenary sessions of the legislature, and it is certainly unlikely that most legislators would be on such assignment at any one time. The most plausible explanation for the senate’s failure to screen the EFCC nominees seems to be the usual levity with which legislators in the country approach the otherwise serious issue of attendance at legislative meetings.
– Vincent Obia