Incomplete credentials: Abia Assembly refuses to screen three commissioner nominees

There was a mild drama at the plenary of the Abia State House of Assembly yesterday, as three out of six commissioner nominees sent for confirmation by Abia Governor Alex Otti appeared without some required credentials.

This followed an observation presented to the House by the member representing Obingwa-West state constituency, Erondu Uchenna Erondu Jr., who frowned at why commissioner nominees would appear for screening without their complete credentials.

In his words: “Going through their documents here with us, there is no single paper, including First School Leaving Certificate (FSLC), West African Secondary School Certificate (WASSC), tax clearance certificate, birth certificate or age declaration, among others, to back up their claims in their Curriculum Vitae.”

He urged the House to critically look into the anomaly to forestall further recurrences.

Reacting, the Speaker, Emmanuel Emeruwa, said that one of the commissioner nominees was not present at the screening because he was coming from afar and affirmed that others would be confirmed after they presented their credentials to the House at the next plenary.

Out of the six commissioner nominees sent to the Abia State House of Assembly for screening and confirmation by the state governor, only two, Ubochi Goodluck Chinedu and Ogbonnaya Uche, were confirmed after the screening by the House.

The confirmation of the other nominees was suspended pending when they submitted their credentials to the clerk of the House.

The House also passed into law HAB 10—The Abia State Cocoa Development and Other Commodities and Marketing Board Bill, 2024—following its third reading and consideration of the report from its Joint Committee on Agriculture, Trade, Commerce and Industry.

The House later adjourned its plenary to reconvene on Tuesday, August 13, 2024.