Nominee Rejects Tinubu’s NLRC Appointment

A female nominee for membership of the Nigerian Law Reform Commission (NLRC) as Commissioner has rejected her nomination by President  Bola Tinubu.

This was disclosed on Tuesday at the Senate plenary even as the Red Chamber confirmed the nominations of the other two nominees as chairman and Commissioner of the NLRC.

President Tinubu had nominated Dakas Dakas as chairman of NLRC; with Uchenna Okolocha and Fatima Alkali as Commissioners of the NLRC since June 2025.

However, presenting a report of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Senator Adeniyi Adegbonmire, chairman of the panel, said Fatima Alkali turned down the appointment.

He told lawmakers on Tuesday that Alkali, a Professor, who was nominated to represent the North-East zone, communicated her rejection of the offer to the presidency.

He said the legislative committee requested for and received the curriculum vitae and other supporting documents of the nominees and invited them to appear before it for a screening exercise. “On Wednesday, 25th June 2025, two of the nominees appeared before the committee. The third one, Professor Fatima Alkali, turned down the appointment.”

Adegbonmire said the committee recommended that Alkali be replaced with another female nominee from the North-East region for “gender fairness”.

The committee chairman, however, said the remaining two nominees — Dakas, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), from the North-Central, and Okolocha from the South-South — were “fit and proper persons to assume the positions”.

“The nominees possess the requiste qualifications, leadership qualities and comportment to discharge the statutory duties and functions of the offices of chairman and commissioner of the commissioner,” he added.

He added that the committee was satisfied about their qualifications, experience, suitability, competence and integrity to assume the position of the chairman and full-time commissioner of the Nigerian Law Reform Commission, respectivelyl

He also said no petition or adverse report was received against the two nominees.