Fayemi, Onu, Amaechi, Ngige, Dambazau, Kachikwu, Alhassan, Fashola, others face screening Tuesda
Senate President Bukola Saraki yesterday made public the list of ministerial nominees that President Muhammadu Buhari sent to him last Wednesday, triggering varied reactions from a cross-section of Nigerians. On the list of 21 nominees whose names were read out at the plenary session of the Senate are former governors, Dr. Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Mr. Babatunde Fashola (Lagos), Mr. Chibuike Amaechi (Rivers), Senator Chris Ngige (Anambra) and a bigwig of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu (Ebonyi), who was a former governor of the old Abia State.
Others who made the cabinet are former Minister of Communication, Chief Audu Ogbe (Benue); APC National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed (Kwara); former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Abubakar Dambazau (Kano); Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu (Delta) and former National Legal Adviser of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Ahaji Abubakar Malami (Kebbi).
Mr. Solomom Dalong (Plateau), Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary General, Mrs. Amina Ibrahim Mohammed (Kaduna); Dr. Osagie Ehanire (Edo), APC governorship candidate in Taraba State, Senator Aisha Alhassan (Taraba); CPC governorship candidate in Oyo State in the 2007 election, Alhaji Adebayo Shittu (Oyo), Alhaji Suleiman Adamu (Jigawa) and former Ogun State Commissioner for Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun (Ogun) are also on the list. In addition, Ahmed Isa Ibeto (Niger), Ibrahim Usman Jubril, Senator Hadi Sirika (Katsina) and Senator Udoma Udo Udoma (Akwa Ibom) are on the list.
The Senate will on Tuesday begin screening the 21 ministerial nominees with a view to approving their nominations as members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) Yesterday’s announcement of the ministerial list ended a week of speculation on the names of the nominees, especially in the wake of last Thursday report by the media in which some names were mentioned as being on the list. Coincidentally, nearly all the names paraded by the media last week, following the refusal of the presidency and the Senate to make public the ministerial nominees, featured in the list, which Saraki read to senators. Shortly after he read the names of the list, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senators protested.
The Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio (PDP, Akwa-Ibom North -West), raised a point of order, saying that the members of the opposition party in the chamber did not accept the list because it was not complete. He urged the Senate to call on Buhari to submit the remaining list before senators would commence the screening.
He added that an incomplete ministerial list was never contemplated in the 1999 Constitution. He said the president should have sent a complete list so that all states would have been represented at the same time instead of sending it in batches. Other PDP senators also moved to oppose the presentation of an incomplete list but Saraki only noted their observations as the Senate proceeded with other businesses, after he had pleaded for their understanding. While sustaining Akpabio’s point of order, Saraki, however, appealed to the senators to allow the list to be as he urged them to give the president the benefit of doubt to fulfill his promise by forwarding the remaining list as soon as possible.
After calming the senators, Saraki said the Senate on Tuesday would commence the screening of the ministerial nominees since it was formally received by the chamber yesterday, in accordance with parliamentary tradition. He added that the Senate had to shift the screening of the nominees to enable it to receive and study their profiles, which were still being expected.
The PDP also faulted the list of ministerial nominees, saying it raises doubts on the sincerity of the Buhari administration’s anti-corruption crusade. The party in a statement yesterday, said the list and the length of time it took to compile it, had confirmed the fact that the APC-led government was driven by propaganda and deceit.
“By a mere look at the list, one can tell that there is nothing to be excited about, especially considering the length of time it took the president to come up with it. “Looking at the list, it is hard to put a finger on why it should take any serious- minded and focused government, six months after its election to assemble such a regular team,” the party stated.
A Rivers State-based group, Integrity Group, while criticising the list, called for the withdrawal of Amaechi’s nomination because of allegations of fraud and corruption pending against him. Media and Publicity Director of the group, Mr. Livingstone Wechie, told reporters in Abuja that while the group welcomed the nomination of a Rivers son as based on the federal character principle, the state must not be represented by “someone perceived to be corrupt.”
According to the group, Amaechi is being investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on allegations of corruption, criminal breach of trust, unlawful enrichment and misappropriation of over N70 billion belonging to Rivers State.
In addition, a constitutional lawyer and civil rights activist, Mr. Kayode Aula, described the ministerial list as a mockery of the collective intelligence of Nigerians. Ajulo expressed dismay that after four months of grandstanding and suspense, presumably to search for people of high moral integrity, Buhari could only nominate the same set of people he has been working with since he stepped out to contest the 2015 presidential election.
Ajulo, who is the National Secretary of the Labour Party, said contrary to what Nigerians had been made to believe, the list was nothing more than a recycling of the same old names, some of whom having to defend themselves against corruption allegations.
He faulted the release of the list of nominees in batches, saying that it violated the constitution and is an affront to the rights of those states excluded from the current list. But in Ekiti State, there was jubilation over the nomination of Fayemi as a would-be minister. Residents and party supporters engaged in revelry Saraki mentioned Fayemi’s name while announcing the ministerial nominees.
The state chapter of APC, religious and community leaders and eminent personalities described Fayemi’s nomination as a reward for hard work and vision he exuded while he was governor of the state. They urged him to continue to pursue his vision of human development in his impending new appointment.
Congratulating Fayemi, APC State Chairman, Mr. Olajide Awe, asked the former governor to strengthen the template for modern governance anchored on human development he established in Ekiti State to contribute his quota to national development. Also, Catholic Bishop Felix Femi Ajakaye urged Fayemi to use his talents to “concretely and meaningfully” make a positive impact in the service of the nation. Besides, the Onisan of Isan-Ekiti, Fayemi’s hometown, Oba Sunday Ajiboye, said the brilliance and vision the former governor demonstrated posted landmark impacts unprecedented in the state’s development.
He urged him to demonstrate the same passion on the national scale for Nigeria’s development. In his reaction, a former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Director, Chief Samuel Falegan, said Fayemi’s nomination presented “the second time within five years that my joy is full to the brim”.
He said he was convinced that Fayemi’s nomination was a reward by God for dedication to selfless service to humanity and loyalty to his party. The Alare of Are-Ekiti, Oba Boluwade Adebiyi, described Fayemi as “a politician of no mean stature, a complete gentleman, a child of destiny” and asked him to maintain the attributes in the service of the nation. The Olupole of Ipole- Ekiti, Oba Ezekiel Babatola Oladele, also expressed happiness at Fayemi’s nomination, saying “God never closes a window without opening a door and God does not take anything from us without giving another.”
President, Supreme Council For Islamic Affairs, Ekiti State Branch, Alhaji Yakubu Sanni, said Fayemi’s legacy projects in Ekiti State would for many years remain unparalleled, praising him for promotion of Islam through approval of hijab for female students, including appointing Muslims into top positions of government.
But while reacting to his appointment, Fayemi expressed surprise over his inclusion on the ministerial list. Fayemi, who spoke with journalists at the APC national secretariat in Abuja, stated that Buhari did not inform him about his nomination before sending the list to the Senate.
He said: “Well, to the extent that I was not told by the President that I was going to be on his list, yes, it came as a surprise. The president is a surprise master; let me put it that way. “He did not tell anyone to the best of my knowledge and I would have thought that I was in vantage position to know more than others.
I was with him for five days before then, I was with him in New York at the United Nation General Assembly and he never uttered a word about his list to me nor to anyone else. We came back to Nigeria together, I was with him all until 4pm on the evening he submitted the list to the President of the Senate and I did not have any clue of what is going to happen. So, to that extent I was pleasantly surprised.”. He described the appointment as a call to duty and a call to action.