Abuja — The confirmation of Mr. Samuel Ukura as Auditor General of the Federation may have been put on hold in the Senate because of alleged circumvention of due process in the Presidency.

The process that produced Ukura was said to have been influenced by some officials of the Presidency in total disregard to a directive by President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua on the appointment of Auditor General.

Although the Senate Committee on Public Accounts led by Senator Ahmad Lawan had already screened Ukura, the Senate, as learnt, may have decided to suspend Ukura's confirmation hearing due to some revelations contained in documents as well as petitions pending before it in respect of his confirmation.

One of the documents revealed that Yar' Adua had, through a memo, dated June 9, 2009, mandated the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Alhaji Mahmud Yayale Ahmed, to process the appointment of the Auditor General with a view to appointing one of the most senior Directors in the Auditor General's office.

The memo, with reference number: SH/PSP/42/A/351, entitled: "Re: Appointment of Auditor General for the Federation" signed by Mr. David Edevbie on behalf of the President, reads: "Attached is a letter Ref. APSAN/HQ/ADMIN/Vol. 1/35 dated May 21, 2009 from the Association of Public Service Auditors of Nigeria (APSAN) addressed to His Excellency, Mr. President on the above subject matter.

"Specifically, the letter is an appeal to His Excellency, Mr. President to consider appointing any of the most senior Directors in the office of the Auditor General for the Federation to fill the vacant position of the Auditor General in the interest of public sector auditing.

"You may kindly treat the letter as deemed appropriate. Accept, SGF, the expression of my best wishes."

But the Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC), Ambassador Ahmed Al-Gazali and some officials in the Presidency were said to have circumvented the process by nominating Ukura from outside the ranks of senior Directors.

However the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) had issued a Federal Government Circular No. SGF/OP/1/S.3/T/1/ dated August 14, 2009 to remind that appointment should be without prejudice to eligible serving officers jostling for the positions.

The circular, entitled: "Procedure for Appointing Chief Executives and Heads of Parastatals, Government-Owned Companies, Agencies and Institutions," had explained that the appointments must be based on strict adherence to the principle of justice, equity and fair play and must be guided by the various laws establishing them.

According to the circular, "To ensure stability, continuity, and improvement of staff morale, serving officers shall be encouraged to aspire to top positions of their establishments through effective career development and succession planning.

"In this connection, Mr. President has directed that in line with extant guidelines, requests for such appointments should always be channeled to His Excellency through the Secretary to the Government of the Federation who will process them for approval and in turn communicate any approval to the appropriate supervising ministers."

Ukura's nomination was believed to have been stalled in the Senate following the controversy that has dogged it.

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Drugs, Narcotics, Financial Crimes and Anti-Corruption, Senator Sola Akinyede had faulted the process of appointing him and wants the Senate to reject his nomination.

Yar' Adua had appointed Ukura, who is the Auditor General of Benue State, in line with Section 86 of the Constitution and forwarded his nomination to the Senate for confirmation on the recommendation of the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC).

Akinyede had, in a letter to the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Senator Ahmad Lawan, dated November 2, 2009, said that the appointment of Ukura from outside the ranks of the most senior directors in the Office of the Auditor-General violated established practices and extant rules in the Civil Service.

He said that advertisement for the position, following the retirement of the former occupant of the office, Mr. Robert Ejenavi, as published in THISDAY of May 12, 2009, listed conditions that were against existing directives.

According to him, "They were based on the requirements in a Bill that has not been passed into law and assented to by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and contrary to the provisions of Section 86 of the 1999 Constitution, the document that created the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation.

"The advertisement states that in addition to being at least a Director, the candidate must have a minimum of 15 years post professional qualification."

He said, "If the Constitution had intended to restrict the position to those with 15 years' post professional qualification experience, it would have stated so categorically as in the case of Attorney General of the Federation who is required to have a minimum of 10 years post-qualification experience (as provided in Section 150."

Akinyede, who told THISDAY that he would raise the issue at the confirmation hearing of Ukura consequent upon the presentation of the screening report by the Public Accounts Committee, maintained that the FCSC conducted the appointment interview to the exclusion of all serving Directors within Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation.

This act, according to him, ran contrary to "well-established practices and Secretary to the Government of the Federation circular No. SGF/OP/1/S.3/T/1 of 14th August 2009 reminding supervising ministers, etc., of Extant Guidelines.

"Paragraph 3 of the Guidelines states that: 'to ensure stability, continuity and improvement of staff morale, serving officers shall be encouraged to aspire to top positions of their establishments through effective career development and succession planning'."

He said that it was therefore obvious that the entire exercise was conducted not only in violation of established practices in the Civil Service as well as the circular from the Office of the SGF, but also more importantly "contrary to the explicit and unambiguous provision of Section 86 of the Constitution."

He further posited that, "In line with the provisions of Section 14(3) of the Constitution which deals with Federal Character, I believe that all eligible and interested officers including the two most senior Directors in the Auditor-General's office who coincidentally come from the Southwest zone should not have been excluded from the interview process using an existing law and a condition not provided by the Constitution."

Akinyede added: "Having regard to the foregoing, it is more than obvious that the process that produced the nominee, Mr. Samuel T. Ukura is flawed, as eligible career officers were unfairly, deliberately, illegally and constitutionally excluded.

"Consequently, it is only fair that the Senate should advise Mr. President of this fact, suspend the screening process and allow all eligible candidates to participate in consonance with due process, the rule of law and the provisions of the Constitution."