ABUJA — AHEAD of today’s screening of former Governor of Rivers
State, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi; Senate Majority Leader, Senator Ali
Ndume, yesterday, lampooned senators elected on the platform of his
former party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, saying that the 8th
Senate belongs to the All Progressives Congress, APC.
According to him, the PDP should note that it has become a minority, a
situation where the majority would always have its way, warning that
PDP cannot disqualify Amaechi based on what he described as triviality
instead of the constitution. He added that Amaechi has not been
convicted by any court of law.
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Sen. Ndume
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Ali Ndume boasted that the Senators will determine the fate of
Amaechi and not the report of Senator Samuel Anyanwu-led Committee on
Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, adding that Deputy Senate
President, Ike Ekweremadu would not have presided yesterday because APC
ministerial nominees were being screened, which explained the
adjournment.
Ndume spoke amid strong indications, yesterday, that PDP and APC
senators will flex muscles today over Amaechi. While the APC senators
have insisted on screening and confirming Amaechi for a ministerial
appointment, the PDP Senators have not shifted grounds on the position
they took on Tuesday to frustrate the screening of the former governor.
Today, Chairman, Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public
Petitions, Senator Samuel Anyanwu (PDP, Imo East) will submit the
reports of his committee on petitions against the nominees including
Amaechi.
According to a PDP Senator, who spoke with Vanguard, the report will be up for discussion and votes will be taken in support or against Amaechi being screened and cleared.
The senator, who noted that if the voting favours that Amaechi be
screened as opposed to their collective decision, they would as a caucus
stage a walk out and allow the APC senators do what they want to do.
PDP senators to review pact with Saraki
The Senator told Vanguard that the PDP
Senators who formed an alliance with Senate President Bukola Saraki
prior to his election and which led to his emergence were planning to
review the unwritten agreement.
On whether the PDP senators were aware that if the Senators failed to
screen or reject Amaechi by October 29 upon the expiration of the 21
working-day constitutional deadline, the former governor would
automatically become a minister, the Senator said “we will not allow
that to happen” as PDP Senators.
The Senator continued: “The report of the Committee on Ethics,
Privileges and Public Petitions will be laid tomorrow (today) and there
will be voting on whether or not to accept that Amaechi be screened. The
voting will determine the way forward and if the voting says he should
be screened because APC wants and PDP as a caucus thinks we should not
screen Amaechi and if the APC insists, PDP Senators will stage a walk
out.”
Another PDP Senator, who spoke with Vanguard,
said that the issue has to do with 21 working days which is like a
month, adding that the position of PDP Senators is about the law and the
society, adding that the National Assembly is a theatre of politics,
but as law makers, they must be cautious.
According to the Senator, the PDP senators were standing on Section
66(h) which stipulates that when indicted by a panel, the person cannot
occupy any public office.
Section 66(h) says: “No person shall be qualified for Membership of
National Assembly and Right of attendance if he has been indicted for
embezzlement or fraud by a judicial Commission of Inquiry or an
Administrative Panel of Inquiry or a Tribunal set up under the Tribunals
of Inquiry Act…”
The PDP senators are also citing section 53(5) of the Senate Standing
Orders 2015 as Amended on why they will work against the clearance of
Amaechi.
Section 53(5) of Senate Standing Orders 2015 As Amended reads:
“Reference shall not be made to any matter on which a Judicial decision
is pending, in such a way as might in the opinion of the President of
the Senate prejudice the interest of parties thereto.”
The screening would have taken place yesterday, but the Senate
suspended sitting to allow senators accompany Senate President, Bukola
Saraki to the Code of Conduct Tribunal where he is facing trial over
alleged false declaration of assets.
For the third time since it began the screening of ministerial
nominees, the Senate on Tuesday, postponed the screening of Amaechi.
We’re not against Amaechi— Sen Ogba
Also, a member of the Senate Committee on Ethics and Public
Petitions, Obinna Ogba, has denied allegation that the committee was
against Amaechi’s confirmation.
He equally debunked insinuation that the delay in releasing the
report of investigation on Amaechi, which resulted in the delay in his
screening was as a result of sharp division among members of the
committee on the report.
Reacting in an interview, yesterday, with Vanguard, in Abuja,
Senator Ogba, who represents Ebonyi Central in the National Assembly,
under PDP, insisted that there was no disagreement among members of the
committee.
We will determine Amaechi’s fate not Anyanwu’s report – Ndume
Answering questions from Journalists, yesterday, on the issue, Ndume said Amaechi would be cleared.
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Former governor of Rivers State and Ministerial nominee Rotimi Amaechi
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His words: ‘’The Ethics and Privileges report is not the determinant
of Amaechi’s fate. It is the Senate. Even if they write their report, it
has to be laid before the Senate which will decide on the report. It is
not the report that will decide the fate of Amaechi.
“Whatever the Committee recommends to the Senate, it is the Senate
that will decide. And I have told Nigerians several times that this
Senate belongs to APC. We have PDP senators that are in the minority. We
are practising democracy in a changed environment. That is to allow the
minorities to have their say. But you know that the majority will
always have its way. We have 58 senators, the Senate President excluded,
and they have 48 Senators.
“And Amaechi is an APC candidate and the constitution is very clear.
Until there is conviction, you are considered innocent until proven
guilty beyond reasonable doubt by a competent court of law.
Unfortunately, you cannot confirm or disqualify Amaechi, we are the only
ones that can do that. And PDP cannot disqualify Amaechi based on
triviality. It must be based on constitutionality.”
On why the plenary was suspended, Ndume said: “The Senate President
has a pending case before the Appeal Court which judgement was suspended
indefinitely. We, therefore, thought that the lower court will suspend
today’s (yesterday’s) sitting as the Senate President has to be in court
by 10.00am. He is the Presiding Officer and this is an extraordinary
period because we are screening ministers who are predominantly APC. So,
that was why we said this screening should continue with the Senate
President presiding. So, we are continuing tomorrow (today) by God’s
grace.”
When told that the Deputy Senate President was supposed to have
presided in the absence of the Senate President, the Senate leader said:
“This is not a normal day because we are screening APC nominees and
there are issues surrounding it. The Presiding Officer is the Senate
President who started the screening and we said we would continue after
taking a day off and continue tomorrow (today)”.
Speaking on the senators’ solidarity with the Senate President at the
tribunal, Senator Ndume said: “It was not a solidarity as such. This
Senate does not belong to Saraki, Senator Ali Ndume or anybody. The
Senate is an institution, an independent arm of government and should be
respected and strengthened. Besides, if the President takes his time
to submit the (ministerial) list, which Nigerians patiently waited for
why will Nigerians not be patient with the Senate to wait for its
conclusion? And why don’t you take us on issues other than these
trivialities? Suppose we had said we are suspending the screening till
next week, we have the right to do that.
“But the constitution is guiding us that we have to do this within 21
working days. And we are still within the 21 working days. It is not 21
days, it is 21 working days. And our working days in the Senate plenary
is three days in a week. So, if you are talking about 21 working days,
it means that the Senate will do this within seven weeks because we sit
for plenary Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. That is three working
days. It means that logically, we can do this up to seven weeks.”
“The ministries have not been streamlined yet to
know where they are going. I don’t even see an issue out of it. I was
thinking that by now, we will be talking about ideas not about people
and events. It won’t move this country forward. We are supposed to be
talking about the screening details.”
