Buhari Reappoints Dabiri-Erewa As NiDCOM Chair
Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa has been reappointed by President Muhammadu Buhari to serve as Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) for a second term.
A letter from the President to the Senate asking the Upper Chamber to confirm her reappointment included a notice of her reappointment.
The letter, dated April 26, was read aloud in front of the Senate on Tuesday and was addressed to Ahmad Lawan, the Senate President.
The President first appointed Dabiri-Erewa as the founding NiDCOM chair in November 2018. Before being appointed, she served as the President’s Senior Special Advisor on Foreign Affairs and the Diaspora.
From 2003 until 2015, Dabiri-Erewa served as a representative for Lagos State’s Ikorodu Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives. During her visit to the House of committee on diaspora affairs.
To address the current vacancies in the states, President Buhari also sent a second letter to the Senate asking for approval of the appointment of six federal commissioners of the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).
Ayogu Eze, Peter Okpara, Hauwa Aliyu, Rajiya Ayuba, Kolawole Adebola, and Ismailia Agaka are among the nominees.
Additionally, the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS)’s delay in issuing and renewing passports has been the subject of an investigation by the red chamber’s interior committee.
The Senate has also requested that the interior committee look into the NIS contract for printing passports.
Following a motion by Senator Uche Ekwunife who claimed that Nigerians are experiencing difficulty and stress in obtaining their passports, the Senate issued these instructions to its committee on Interior on Tuesday at the start of plenary.
She explained that despite the NIS’s six-week deadline for processing passport applications, Nigerians now need to wait three to six months to receive their passports.
The lawmaker further noted that it has become extremely difficult for passports to be processed in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja and this is creating a situation where Nigerians who reside in those states now have to travel to other states in the country to process their passports
