Kingsley Kanayo
Former governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, will not be screened by the Senate today as his name was not listed in the Order Paper, which gives details of the business of the day at the Senate.
This is the third time Mr. Amaechi’s screening was suspended by the Senate.
Earlier, the Senate Order Paper showed names of eight ministerial nominees billed for screening, but another paper later emerged showing only three names of ministerial nominees.
In the earlier schedule, the names of Adebayo Shittu, Heineken Lokpobiri, Rotimi Amaechi, Khadija Ibrahim, Baba Bwari, Ocholi James, Mansur Mohammed and Zainab Ahmed were listed, while the subsequent paper only showed the names of Adebayo Shittu, Khadijat Ibrahim and Claudius Daramola.
The Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions was scheduled today to submit its report on the petitions against the nomination of former governor of Rivers State Rotimi Amaechi and Ms. Aisha Abubakar from Sokoto State as ministers.
The report of the committee, which was expected to be debated on the floor of Senate chamber Tuesday, will determine the fate of Amaechi and Aisha.
According to reports, the screening of Amaechi, who was among the first set of ministerial nominees sent to the upper chamber, was stepped down twice. Only he and Barrister Adebayo Shittu, the nominee from Oyo State, were yet to be screened among the first set of nominees submitted by President Buhari on September 30.
Speaking in an interview, the chairman of the committee, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, said the reports on the two nominees are going to be laid at the plenary today.
“We are through with all the two remaining petitions and we are going to submit our report tomorrow (today),” he said.
Also yesterday, Aisha, the nominee from Sokoto State, appeared before the senate committee over a petition against her nomination by a coalition of women groups in the state.
Aisha, who told members of the committee that she did not belong to any political party, had broken down in tears. Our correspondent saw her friends and relatives who accompanied her to the panel, consoling her outside the committee room.
Others to be screened this week are: Khadija Bukar Abba Ibrahim (Yobe), Claudius Omoleye Daramola (Ondo), Professor Anthony Anwuka (Imo), Geoffrey Onyeama (Enugu), retired Brigadier Mohammed M. Dan-Ali (Zamfara) and Barrister James E. Ocholi (Kogi).
Also expected to appear at the confirmation hearing are Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed (Kaduna), Okechukwu Enelamah (Abia), Muhammadu Bello (Adamawa), Mustapha Baba Shehuri (Borno), Ms. Aisha Abubakar (Sokoto), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri (Bayelsa), Adamu Adamu (Bauchi), Professor Isaac Adewole (Osun), Pastor Usani Usani Uguru (Cross River) and Abubakar Bwari Bawa (Niger State), who replaced the former deputy governor Ahmed Musa Ibeto.
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