{"id":9450,"date":"2025-11-11T16:30:04","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T16:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/?p=9450"},"modified":"2025-11-11T16:30:23","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T16:30:23","slug":"protesters-surround-nass-calling-for-senate-confirmation-of-the-nerc-chairman-nominee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/2025\/11\/11\/protesters-surround-nass-calling-for-senate-confirmation-of-the-nerc-chairman-nominee\/","title":{"rendered":"Protesters surround NASS, calling for Senate confirmation of the NERC Chairman nominee"},"content":{"rendered":"

Protesters on Tuesday stormed the National Assembly, urging the Senate to expedite the confirmation of President Bola Tinubu\u2019s nominee for Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Abdullahi Ramat.<\/p>\n

The protesters, made up of Ramat\u2019s supporters, civil society organisations, and human rights activists, paraded around the parliamentary complex, chanting solidarity songs and holding placards with various inscriptions such as \u201cPresident Tinubu Did Not Send Nominees to be Harassed\u201d and \u201cRamat Represents Reform in the Power Sector.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their protest came in response to last month\u2019s Senate decision to halt Ramat\u2019s confirmation, even after he had been successfully screened by the Senate Committee on Power, led by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe.<\/p>\n

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Addressing journalists, the leader of the protest and spokesperson for the Grassroots Initiative Concept, Ahmed Suleiman, said they had petitioned both President Tinubu and Senate President Godswill Akpabio, alleging that \u201ccertain vested interests\u201d were attempting to block the appointment for political reasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe write as proud indigenes of Kano State, just like the Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin, to reaffirm our commitment to peace and good governance,\u201d Suleiman stated.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt is surprising and deeply unsettling that Engr. Ramat\u2019s confirmation was stepped down despite his qualifications and the positive recommendation of the screening committee.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have since learned that some vested interests are pushing false narratives to discredit him,\u201d he alleged.<\/p>\n

The group warned that allowing political interference to override merit would set a \u201cdangerous precedent\u201d where capable Nigerians are denied key national positions due to personal grudges and power struggles.<\/p>\n

They urged the Senate leadership not to \u201cyield to blackmail or manipulation,\u201d insisting that confirming Ramat would serve the national interest and support the Tinubu administration\u2019s reforms in the power sector.<\/p>\n

The recent protest followed just four days after the Senate warned of legal action against former presidential aide Alwan Hassan, who claimed that lawmakers received a $10 million bribe to prevent Ramat\u2019s confirmation.<\/p>\n

Senate spokesperson, Yemi Adaramodu, dismissed the bribery allegations as \u201cbaseless and reckless,\u201d saying the nominee\u2019s confirmation was stepped down following \u201cpublic and private complaints\u201d regarding his suitability.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany nominees have stepped down due to public outcry. Mr Ramat\u2019s case is not an exception,\u201d Adaramodu said.<\/p>\n

The Senate has vowed to compel Hassan to substantiate his allegations in court, insisting it would not confirm any nominee \u201cunder a cloud of public concern.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ramat\u2019s nomination remains on hold pending further legislative review, as Nigerians continue to express frustration over high electricity tariffs and persistent poor power supply across the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Protesters on Tuesday stormed the National Assembly, urging the Senate to expedite the confirmation of President Bola Tinubu\u2019s nominee for Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Abdullahi Ramat. The protesters, made up...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9451,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9450"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9450\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9452,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9450\/revisions\/9452"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}