Senate receives second batch of ministerial nominees

The wait for the release of second batch of ministerial nominees is over, as the Senate Monday received the second list of 16 nominees.The list was delivered to Bukola Saraki, the Senate president, at 4:24pm by Abba Kyari, Chief of Staff to the President, accompanied by Ita Enang, senior special assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), and Abdulraman Kawu Sumaila, his counter-part in the House of Representatives.

President Muhammadu Buhari had assured in his independence day broad-cast that the remaining list of nominees would be sent to the Senate ‘shortly.’

Recall that he earlier sent a partial list of 21 would-be ministers.Confirming the development, Yusuph Olaniyanu, special adviser to the Senate president on media, said his principal at today’s plenary would officially open the envelope containing the letter and the list.

Olaniyonu however ex-pressed optimism that this would be the last batch, saying: “I am not sure it will extend to a third batch.”Similarly, the Senate Com-mittee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, has said it is yet to clear two ministe-rial nominees: Rotimi Amaechi and Amina Mohammed.

Recall that Saraki had urged the Committee to submit its report before today’s screening. But speaking to journalists at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja after the petitioners and the two ministerial nominees made their separate presentations, Chairman of the Committee Senator Samuel Anyanwu, said the order by the Senate President was not ‘cast in stone’.

He denied media reports that the committee had received over 10 petitions, ex-plaining that only two peti-tions had been received and treated so far.

He said: “Nobody has been cleared. It is our report because whatever report that we turn out, it is the entire Senate that will dwell on that report and clear whoever that the report recommends for clearance or otherwise.

“We have not turned out our report. We only said that the matter we have before us is in court and there are other conflicting issues, which we are yet to resolve and that is why we are trying to put down our report together.

“The fact that the screen-ing commences tomorrow (Tuesday) is not withstanding. It doesn’t matter. We have two, three days to do our screening. Anybody that is not screened tomorrow (today) could be screened the other day.

“If the reports are ready for any of them, the person will be taken tomorrow (today). And of course, the Senate is going to take them batch-by-batch. So, it doesn’t mean that everybody will be screened tomorrow (today)”.

The Committee had earlier suspended consider-ation of petitions against the nomination of Amaechi as minister.Explaining the reason for the suspension, Anyanwu, said this was in line with the Senate Standing Orders since it would be subjudice to consider the petition.

According to him, this was due to the submission of Amaechi that the White Paper on a report of a Judicial Panel of Inquiry was already pend-ing in court.