Activities to resume at NHRC as Buhari constitutes board after five years

AFTER a relative lull spanning almost six years at the National Human Rights Commission, President Buhari, yesterday, constituted governing board for the commission.

This decision was contained in a letter sent to the Senate yesterday, in which the President named Salamatu Suleiman, a former minister of women affairs, as chairman of the 15-member board.

The letter, read at yesterday’s plenary session, was titled, ‘Request for confirmation of appointment of the chairman and members of the National Human Rights Commission (board) pursuant to section 2(3) of the NHRC act as amended’.

The NHRC act provides for a governing council which shall be responsible for the discharge of the functions of the commission.

With this development, activities will resume at the NHRC, years after Buhari refused to reconstitute the commission’s board. The tenure of the last council expired months after his election in 2015.

The new chairman of the NHRC, Salamatu Suleiman, is a graduate of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. She was appointed minister of women affairs and social development in December 2008 during the Yar’Adua administration.

In 2012, she was named commissioner in charge of political affairs, peace and security at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) commission, a role she occupied until 2016.

According to the details of the letter sent to the Senate, President Buhari named Tony Ojukwu, NHRC executive secretary, and 13 others as members of the governing board.