…APC member who is a lawyer
By Emmanuel Abi Couson
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appointment of MrsTomi Somefun as the Managing Director of Hydro-electric Power Producing Area Development Commission, HYPPADEC , is a breach of the 2010 Act that established the commission.
According to a season lawyer who spoke with Newsspecng online newspaper who wanted anonymity said the President must have been misled because ‘ the 2010 ACT establishing the commission is very clear ‘
The legal personnel who is also a member of APC said the HYPPADEC ACT 2010 states in part IV under staff of commission, section 12 under the Appointment of the Managing Director that “there shall be a Managing Director For the Commission who shall be :
(a) appointed by the President subject to the confirmation of the Senate
(b)be a competent Nigerian and
(c)hold office on such terms and conditions as may be specified in his letter of
2. The Managing Director shall:
(a)be an indigene from among the member states of the commission whose appointment and tenure shall rotate among member states in alphabetical order provided that the Chairman and Managing Director shall not be indigene of the same state”. etc
In the light of the above it is clear that the appointment of Mrs. Somefun is averse to the Act establishing the commission .
He said though Mrs. Somefun, is a seasoned financial expert and being a former Managing Director of Unity Bank Plc, but hails from Oyo State, which is not listed among Nigeria’s hydro-electric power producing areas.
He advised the President to correct the anomaly for equity, justice and rule of law sake , thereby avoiding what critics describes as a direct violation of the HYPPADEC Act.
According to the Act establishing the Commission, the Managing Director must be appointed from among the hydroelectric power-producing states, which include Niger, Kwara, Kogi, Kebbi, Plateau, Kaduna, Taraba, and Gombe.
