Kogi State governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, has asked the Senate Committee on Marine Transport to include in the proposed amendment of Nigeria InlandWater Ways Authority (NIWA) a clause that empowers Kogi state governor to appoint a board member for the authority.
Bello who was represented by his Special Adviser on legislature (Assembly matters), Barrister Haruna Yusuf argued that NIWA Act, 2004 which allows the Minister of Transport the sole authority to appoint board members was counter productive, insisting that the minister could appoint wrong persons.
He added that the Minister could appoint board members outside the host state and no body can challenge him under the current laws.
“Since the headquarters of Nigeria Inland Waterways Authority is in Lokoja, Kogi state, I should be allowed by law to appoint board members and so I am appealing to the Senate Committee on Marine Transport to include this provision in the amendment,” Bello posited.
The demand, however, caused laughter among the audience.
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