NASC reconstitutes standing c’ttees, unveils new panel heads

National Assembly Service Commission NASC has carried out a comprehensive reconstitution of its Standing Committees, handing new leadership roles to several commissioners across the Commission’s panels.

Executive Chairman of the Commission, Saviour Enyiekere, disclosed the changes during the Commission’s 32nd meeting held this week, explaining that the outgoing committees had been retained until that date solely to allow them conclude pending assignments before handover.

He said the reconstitution was carried out in line with Section 7 of the Commission’s Standing Orders, and called for unity and cooperation among committee members and management to help the Commission achieve its mandate.

The Executive Chairman retains personal oversight of the Finance and General Purpose Committee, with all Commissioners serving as members and the Secretary to the Commission, Lucky Ikharo, retained as Secretary.

Elsewhere, leadership of the reconstituted panels was spread widely among the Commissioners. The Commissioner for North East, Lawan Maina Mahmud, takes over the Administration and Employee Relations Committee, deputised by former Clerk of the House of Representatives, Patrick Giwa, who himself chairs the Establishment, Records and Training Committee, with the Commissioner for South East, Nnanna Uzor Kalu, as his deputy there.

Kalu, in turn, heads the Committee on Zonal Offices and Legislative Aides, assisted by the Commissioner for North Central, Hanmation Mark Tersoo, who separately chairs the Appeals and Legal Services Committee, with Mahmud serving as his deputy on that panel.

The Commissioner for North East, Aminu Ibrahim Malle, was named Chairman of the Committee on Procurement and General Services, with the Commissioner for South East, Festus Ifesinachi Odii, as his deputy. Odii additionally chairs the Planning, Research and Library Services Committee, deputised by the Commissioner for South West, Afeez Ipesa Balogun, who retains his own chairmanship of the Committee on Public Affairs.

Senator Suleiman Othman Hunkuyi, Commissioner for North West, now heads the Committee on Promotion and Discipline, with the Commissioner for South South, Mary Ekpenyong, as his deputy, even as he serves as Vice Chairman on Ipesa Balogun’s Public Affairs Committee. Ekpenyong was separately named Chairman of the Tenders Board, with Malle as her deputy.

Rounding off the appointments, the Commissioner for North Central, Salihu Umar Agboola Balogun, takes charge of the Committee on Information and Communication Technology, with the Commissioner for North West, Yusuf A. Yusuf, as his Vice Chairman. The two swap roles on the Internal Audit Committee, where Yusuf serves as Head and Balogun as Vice Chairman.

The Commission said all the reconstituted committees were composed with representation drawn from across the country’s six geopolitical zones, and that the changes take immediate effect.

The announcement was contained in a statement signed by the Director of Public Affairs, E. N. Anyigor, on behalf of the Executive Chairman.