The Senate has confirmed the nomination of 82-year-old Sylvanus Nsofor as an ambassador, after he was initially rejected in March.
Nsofor from Imo State was one of the three non-career ambassadorial nominees the Senate rejected alongside Jacob Daodu from Ondo State, in March.
“Although he was calm at the screening, he looked frail and tired. His responses to the issues raised were either not answered or devoid of details and mostly satirical,” observed Monsurat Sunmonu, chairperson of the foreign affairs committee, giving reason for Nsofor’s earlier rejection on March 23.
Sunmonu, APC-Oyo, also noted that Nsofor, during his screening, refused to recite the national anthem and questioned Senators’ reason for asking him for the recital.
According to Mrs. Sunmonu, the 82-year-old judge pushed back a question on his suitability for the job of an envoy based on his age, saying the Senate should ask Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe how he was leading his country despite his very advanced age.
But despite his earlier rejection as well as the observations raised by the Senate, Nsofor was renominated for confirmation by Buhari on April 27 with the committee on foreign affairs reversing itself on Wednesday by recommending the Octogenarian for confirmation.
Sunmonu said the nominee had improved in the ways he responded to questions during his second screening and also said a report by the State Security Service against the nominee could not be sustained because it did not bother on criminal records but was a mere advisory based on Nsofor’s old age.
Apart from Nsofor, the Senate also confirmed the nominations of Olusola Iji, Ondo State, and Yusuf Hinna, Gombe State, as non-career ambassadorial nominees.