Showdown Imminent By PDP Caucus As Senate Plans To Confirm Amaechi, Other Nominees Today

 

The screening of ministerial nominees, which began a fortnight ago, finally came to a close wednesday, with the Senate deferring the confirmation of former Rivers State Governor, Mr. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, and 17 other nominees.

 

The Senate’s decision to defer confirmation of the nominees stunned onlookers wednesday, since it is not the custom of the chamber to defer confirmation of nominees once screening is concluded.

 

While watchers expected Senate President Bukola Saraki to commence the confirmation of the nominees at the end of screening at 3.25 pm, he only summarised what transpired during the screening exercise and thereafter announced adjournment till thursday.

 

Those screened yesterday were Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, Professor Anthony Anwuka, Mr. Mohammed Bello, Ms. Aisha Abubakar and Mr. Adamu Adamu.

 

While answering questions from senators, Enelamah who hails from Abia State emphasised the need to build an inclusive economy with the capacity to create jobs and increase the platform for investment in social infrastructure.

 

According to him, the government must evolve policies that would promote economic growth and provide incentives for investors to work, adding that no nation can develop if its healthcare system is ineffective.

 

He then listed factors that could guarantee the enabling environment in the drive to build an inclusive economy.

 

He said: “The first thing that creates an enabling environment is to have a clear vision for the kind of economy we want to build. The second thing is to have a degree of macroeconomic stability because when people are investing, they want to get returns.

 

“And one of the things that can scare investors is if they think there will be lack of stability or inconsistency in policies; set a policy direction that people can work and plan with.

 

“The third thing is to signal that we are friendly to investors. Some governments are considered investor-friendly, some others are considered somewhat hostile. I believe that as a country, we must do everything possible to signal that we are friendly to investors.

 

“The final thing has to do with infrastructure. I believe that by creating both the soft infrastructure which is the judiciary and security, and the hard infrastructure like power, roads, railways, then people can come in and conduct business.”

 

Also screened yesterday was Bello from Adamawa State. According to him, the threat posed by Fulani herdsmen is caused by the battle for resource control, noting that the search for grazing fields was responsible for the migration of the herdsmen from one region to the other.

 

He however said the menace should not be narrowed to the Fulani ethnic stock alone, stating that some of the herdsmen are not Nigerians but foreigners who herd cattle into the country through the porous borders.

 

During his screening, the Imo State nominee, Professor Anwuka, lamented the problem resulting from the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), noting that it is one of the areas that need to be looked into.

 

While Adamu was subjected to minor questioning, Ms. Abubakar in her own case was asked to bow and go without being questioned.

The decision followed a motion by Senator Abiodun Olujinmi (Ekiti South), who said that since there were only six female nominees, it was only right to allow Ms. Abubakar to depart without questioning.

 

The motion was seconded by the Senate Leader Ali Ndume, following which the Senate president asked her to bow and take her leave.

 

Her screening was devoid of incident after the three senators from her state, Sokoto, announced the withdrawal of the petition they submitted against her nomination last week.

 

The senators had submitted the petition on behalf of a women’s group in Sokoto State, which called for the withdrawal of her name from the ministerial list over allegations that she was not known to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.

 

However, Amaechi and the 17 nominees are expected to be confirmed today. But ahead of today’s confirmation, senators on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) immediately held a closed-door meeting to reach a consensus on the former Rivers governor.

 

At the end of the meeting, THISDAY learnt that the PDP senators maintained their position that the report of the Samuel Anyanwu-led Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions regarding Amaechi be upheld.

 

The committee had recommended that the screening and confirmation of Amaechi be suspended until the matter in court on the petition against his nomination is exhausted in accordance with Order 53(5) of Senate Standing Rules which prohibits the consideration of any matter in the court which in the opinion of the Senate president is considered to be sub-judice.

 

Thisday learnt that the PDP senators resolved to insist on a thorough debate of the report and will during the debate maintain their stance that Amaechi should not be confirmed until he is cleared at the court.

 

Their stance may not be unconnected to unfavourable judgments of the Rivers Election Petitions Tribunals and the Supreme Court against the incumbent Rivers governor Nyesom Wike and 20 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

 

They believe that since Amaechi was the de facto force behind the petitions instituted by the governorship candidate of the APC Dakuku Peterside and others, he should be paid back in the same coin by not being confirmed as a minister.

 

It was further learnt that the matter might threaten the relationship between Saraki’s group and PDP senators if the Senate president ignores them and goes ahead to confirm Amaechi, and informed the delay tactic employed by Saraki in confirming the ministerial nominees yesterday.

 

Saraki, it was gathered, will be walking a very thin line, as his power base in the Senate lies more with the PDP senators than his counterparts in the APC.

 

THISDAY also learnt that the PDP senators might also oppose the confirmation of Mr. Usani Uguru whom they felt had insulted them on Tuesday by saying, “God forbid”, when he was asked if he had ever associated with the PDP.

 

A source said the PDP senators want Uguru stopped on the grounds that he had already shown that he is partisan and would not be entering the federal cabinet as a technocrat.

 

Credits: thisdaylive.com