Even the man Rotimi Amaechi is aware that his confirmation as a minister is going to come with some of these challenges, but at the end he is very confident of victory.
So far, rather than abate, the crisis over the screening of Amaechi is deepening at the Senate. On Tuesday his name was removed from the Order Paper at the die minute after being listed for confirmation.
At the office of the Chairman, Senate Committee on Rules and Business, Senator Babajide Omoworare, nobody was ready to speak on the Amaechi saga. An aide, after conferring with the lawmaker, told The Nation: “The time and terrain are too sensitive, so oga will not say a word.”
The number was also pruned from eight to three – Adebayo Shittu (Oyo), Hajia Khadija Abba-Ibrahim (Yobe) and Claudius Daramola (Ondo), who was not on the first Order Paper.
Strangely, only two people - Shittu and Hajia Khadija - were screened.
On the first Order Paper before Amaechi’s name was removed are Shittu, Hajia Abba Ibrahim, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri (Bayelsa), Bawa Bwari (Niger), James Ocholi (Kogi), Mansur Muhammed (Zamfara) and Zainab Ahmed (Kaduna).
Amaechi, who is on the first list of 21 nominees sent to the Senate by President Muhammadu Buhari on September 30, has not been screened because of the petition filed against him by the self-styled The Integrity Group.
Amaechi has since denied the allegation against him and taken the matter to court.
The Senate suspended plenary on Wednesday without stating reasons. But, it may not be unconnected with the resumption of Bukola Saraki’s trial before the CCT for alleged false assets declaration.
The Senate Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions Committee which considered the petition against Amaechi was set to submit its findings but the report’s submission was also deleted from the Order Paper.
Its Chairman Senator Samuel Anyanwu was listed to submit the report before the item, just like Amaechi’s name, was removed from the Order Paper.
No reasons were given for the removal. Efforts to find out why they were removed failed.
It was gathered that “the leadership of the Senate decided to shift Amaechi’s screening to pave the way for constructive consultation with hardliner Senators, particularly of the PDP.”
Another source said it was wrong of the Senate to continue to delay Amaechi’s screening. The source said if Amaechi is screened, the Senate has the right to confirm or reject his nomination. So why the delay?
