•Amaechi, Lokpobiri, others to face lawmakers Thursday
…Senator submits 10 petitions against Imo nominee
From FRED ITUA, Abuja
The Senate yesterday announced that it will not hold its regular plenary today. The Acting Clerk of the Upper Chamber, Mr. Nelson Ayewoh, who disclosed this late yesterday evening, did not give any official reason for the sudden postponement.
Ayewoh said in the brief statement: “This is to inform all distinguished Senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that the resumption of the Senate in plenary has been rescheduled from Wednesday, 21st October 2015, to Thursday, 22nd October 2015.
“All distinguished Senators are by this notice requested to resume sitting in plenary on Thursday, 22nd October, 2015 by 10am prompt, please.”
It was, however, gathered that the Senate leadership at a meeting held after yesterday’s plenary, unanimously agreed to defer today’s sitting in order to enable the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, appear in person at the venue of his on-going trial by the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), over alleged false declaration of assets.
With the sudden postponement, the ongoing screening and confirmation of ministerial nominees will now be on hold and may resume when Senators reconvene tomorrow.
Meanwhile, contrary to its promises that the report of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, detailing the investigation of the series of allegations against the nomination of former governor of Rivers State, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, would be considered during yesterday’s plenary, the Senate has failed to do so.
The report also detailed the exoneration of the nominee from Sokoto State which was initially incorporated into the Order Paper was yanked off. No explanation was given either by the Senate leadership. But Senate spokesman, Dino Melaye, had said earlier that the petition was dead on arrival because it was addressed to President Muhammadu Buhari and not the Senate President.
Although the initial Order Paper circulated to Senators listed the submission and consideration of the report as regards the issues to be discussed for the day, the Senate made a last minute U-turn. It withdrew the earlier paper minutes before the commencement of the business of the day and circulated a fresh copy.
No reason was given for the sudden withdrawal. Part of the earlier portion indicating the report would be considered reads: “That the Senate do consider the report of the Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions on a petition by the Integrity Group alleging cases of fraud against Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.”
Similarly, eight names that were initially penciled down for screening and confirmation were at the last minute dropped by the Senate. No reason was also forthcoming.
The earlier ministerial nominees set for screening include Mr. Adebayo Shittu (Oyo), Heineken Lokpobiri (Bayelsa), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Khadija Abba Ibrahim (Yobe), Hon. Bawa Bwari (Niger), Mr. Ocholi Enojo James (Kogi), Mr. Mansur Muhammed (Zamfara) and Zainab Ahmed (Kaduna).
In the new Order Paper, only three names were listed. They are Mr. Shittu, Mrs Ibrahim and Claudius Omoleye Daramola (Ondo).
Meanwhile, the ministerial nominee from Imo State, Prof. Anthony Anwuka, is facing a fresh setback. A Senator from the state, Nneji Achonu Athanasius (PDP, Imo North) has submitted over 10 petitions against him. The Senator did not divulge the faces behind the petitions. He did not give further insights of the contents.
After the submission of the petitions, Saraki referred them to the Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions. He mandated the committee to submit its report for consideration today during plenary.
But the chairman of the 13-member Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, Senator Samuel Anyanwu (PDP, Imo West), while reacting to Saraki’s remarks that the report of the petitions against Anwuka would be submitted today, begged for an extension.
He complained that the time-frame to conclude the investigation of the over 10 petitions against Anwuka was too short. He, however, promised to lay the report before the Senate tomorrow for consideration, after which the nominee might be cleared for screening and confirmation.
Also, some pro-Amaechi protesters stormed the National Assembly yesterday, calling on the Senate to look beyond frivolous petitions and confirm the embattled former governor.
They listed some of the projects the former governor executed in Rivers State and concluded that there was the need to replicate the same feats at the federal level.
Meanwhile, Shittu yesterday denied a reported gazette detailing his alleged indictment as a religious extremist. He said the commission that allegedly indicted him never gave him a fair hearing.
Shittu said: “I have never been indicted by any commission of enquiry for religious extremism. I only got to see the gazette recently. The list of those indicted are in the gazette. I was never invited by the commission. So. I cannot be said to have been indicted. I want to assure Senators that I have not been indicted. I am a social mixer.”
There was a mild drama when Yobe State nominee, Mrs Abba Ibrahim, took the stage for her screening and confirmation. Senate President Saraki did not allow Senators to ask her questions. She was only allowed to respond to a question from her husband, Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim. She was thereafter asked to take a bow.
The screening of the Ondo State nominee was deferred. No reason was given for the action.