Senate silent as Buhari ignores National Assembly, appoints DG NDE

THE Senate on Monday declined comments on the decision by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to ignore its resolution against the sacking of Dr Nasiru Argungu, as the Director General of the National Directorate of Employment.

The Presidency on Monday announced that the President had approved the appointment of Abubakar Fikpo as the acting Director-General of the National Directorate of Employment pending the appointment of a substantive DG.

But the spokesperson for the red chamber, Senator Ajibola Basiru, declined comments on the matter when contacted by our correspondent on Monday.

Basiru while responding to our correspondent’s enquiry simply said, “The Senate is not in session.”

Asked whether the issue would be discussed at plenary on resumption next week, Basiru simply said, “I don’t know.”

But the Presidency on Monday announced that the President had approved the appointment of Fikpo as the acting DG of the NDE pending the appointment of a substantive DG.

In sacking Argungu last year in the wake of the controversy that trailed the Federal Government’s planned 774,000 jobs, Buhari had directed the Minister of State, Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, who supervises the agency to nominate an acting DG for the agency.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, in a statement on Monday said Buhari had approved the nomination made by Keyamo.

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The statement was titled, ‘President Buhari approves nomination of Abubakar Nuhu Fikpo as the acting DG of the National Directorate of Employment’.