Not yet Uhuru for Amaechi, Uguru
By Ezrel Tabiowo
Abuja
After three weeks of anxiety , the Senate yesterday concluded its screening exercise of all the 36 ministerial nominees forwarded to it in two batches, by President Muhamnadu Buhari. The confirmation of the last nominees ,was however put on hold, probably till today when plenary resumes.
The deferment came as the 49 PDP senators had an emergency meeting, immediately after plenary, to allegedly perfect plot to stop the confirmation of former Rivers state Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, and the nominee from Cross Rivers state, Pastor Usani Usani Uguru.
Senate had two weeks ago confirmed nominations of 18 out of the 36 nominees after their screening.
But the remaining 18 nominees screened, thereafter, including the last set of five nominees namely, Okechukwu Enelamah ( Abia state), Anwukah Anthony Gozie ( Imo), Muhammed Musa Bello (Adamawa), Adamu Adamu (Bauchi) and Aisha Abubakar (Sokoto) screened yesterday were yet to be confirmed.
Although the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, while announcing the adjournment of the Senate sittings to 10am today , shortly after the screening of Aisha, the last nominee at about 3:15pm yesterday, did not say anything about confirmation of the 18 outstanding nominees, but feelers from the meeting held by the PDP senators, revealed that it might be done today.
A source, who spoke on condition of anonymity with our correspondent, said the purpose of the meeting was intended to stop Amaechi and Nguru from being confirmed as ministers.
A senator from South-south geo-political zone said: “The meeting is about having a united front on the floor of the Senate on critical issues as senators from the same party.”
The PDP senators, had refused to partake in the screening of the Rivers nominee, on the grounds that the report of the ethics, privileges and public petition committee over a petition against Amaechi was not considered by the Senate before the exercise took off.
The PDP lawmakers, who made their position known through the Senate Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio, said it was procedurally wrong for the Senate to have invited Amaechi for the exercise when report of a committee assigned by it to carry out thorough investigation on petition written against him by concerned petitioners from Rivers state , was yet to be considered.
Uguru’s problem with the PDP senators arose from his “God forbid” response to a remark made by a PDP senator on Tuesday during his screening, that the journeys he made round the country before the last general elections was on the PDP platform.
Although he was made to apologize by the Senate President to the PDP senators when taken up by the minority leader, such plea appeared to have fallen on deaf ears as some two PDP senators, Eyinnaya Abaribe and Mao Ohuabunwa, through different point of orders, raised
other issues bordering on alleged non declaration of assets, forgery of tax clearance certificate and questionable pastoral title against him.
Meanwhile, the two nominees from Sokoto and Imo whose choices were initially opposed, have had the petitions against them withdrawn by the petitioners.
The petition against Aisha by Concerned Sokoto Women Group, laid by Senator Ibrahim Gobir ( APC Sokoto East), and forwarded to the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions , was withdrawn yesterday on the floor of the Senate by Gobir.
Gobir, in a letter requesting to withdraw the petition, and sent to the Senate President, included the names of the two other senators from the state , Aliyu Magatakarda Wammako, and Abdullahi Ibrahim.
She was ultimately given a near “ bow and go” honour often accorded past lawmakers when she took her turn at the very last nominee yesterday.
Aside Amaechi and the last set of five nominees screened yesterday, other nominees already screened by the Senate but yet to be confirmed as Ministers-Designate, are Barrister Adebayo Shittu from Oyo State, Khadijat Bukar Abba Ibrahim(Yobe), Claudius Omoleye Daramola (Ondo), Geoffrey Onyeama ( Enugu) and Brigadier Mohammed M. Dan-Ali (Zamfara)
Others are, Barrister James E. Ocholi (Kogi), Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed(Kaduna), Mustapha Baba Shehuri (Borno), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri (Bayelsa), Prof. Isaac Adewole Folorunsho (Osun) , Pastor Usani Usani Uguru (Cross River) and Abubakar Bwari Bawa (Niger).
