Senate Committee Plan To Petition The Ministerial List When It’s Presented On Tuesday

The Chairman, Senate Committee on

Ethics and Public Petitions, Senator

Samuel Anyanwu, who spoke with a

Punch correspondent on Friday in Abuja

said that the committee would send

petitions to protest against President

Muhammadu Buhari’s ministerial

nominees on Tuesday once the list is

presented to them.

He said as of Friday, no member of the

public had formally submitted any

petition against any of the ministerial

nominees.

Sen Anyanwu said

“We have not been receiving petitions

from members of the public obviously

because the list of ministerial nominees

has not been officially unveiled by the

senate president.

“I think the petitions will start coming in

as from next Tuesday after Nigerians

would have known the nominees.”

Some members of Peoples Democratic

Party-controlled states are also preparing

to oppose the clearance of any All

Progressives Congress member that would

make the list from their states.

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Some aggrieved members of the APC in

some states were also said to have

threatened to write petitions against any

nominee that is not confirmed by the

state chapter of the party as a member.

It was gathered that the Rivers State

Government and the state chapter of the

party had concluded plans to oppose a

former governor of the state, Rotimi

Amaechi, if he was nominated.

It was learnt that the state government

might instruct senators from the state to

oppose Amaechi’s nomination.

But when contacted, the state government

and the PDP said they would prefer to

keep mum on the report that Amaechi’s

name was on the ministerial list.

The Media Assistant to the State

Governor, Mr. Simeon Nwakaudu, said

the state government would take a

position after the senate must have read

out the list on Tuesday.

Nwakaudu explained that everything

about the content of the ministerial list

would be mere speculation until it is read

out by the National Assembly.

He said: “Let the list be read first; if the

list comes out, we will formerly take a

position,”.

Similarly, the State PDP Deputy Publicity

Secretary, Mr. Samuel Nwanosike, said

the party would be thorough in its

position on whether Amaechi’s name

appeared on the list or not, but would

have to wait until the Senate read out the

list on Tuesday.

“When the Senate reads out the list, we

will react. We are always thorough when

we take a position on an issue. They said

it is the Senate that will disclose the

content of the list and that will be on

Tuesday. We are waiting for them to do

that,” Nwanosike added.

The Director of International Women

Communication, Hajia Goroso Limota

urged the senate to reject the list if it did

not contain at least 35% of women.

Source: Punch