PDP sentors cannot disqualify Amaechi- Ndume
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.
Sen. Ndume
Sen. Ndume
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.
Former
governor of Rivers State and Ministerial nominee Rotimi Amaechi
Former
governor of Rivers State and Ministerial nominee Rotimi Amaechi
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.”
Vanguard News
Vanguard News
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