Tag: Senate

The Senate has set conditions for would-be members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), who are scheduled to appear for open screening at plenary on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.

One of such conditions is that the nominees must show proof of declaration of their assets. The Senate is insisting that each nominee should appear with his asset declaration certificate issued by the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).

According to the Senate ad-Hoc Committee Chairman on Information, Dino Melaye, the submission of assets declaration documents has become mandatory for the would-be ministers, especially those who had held political offices in the past.

He told reporters after the plenary yesterday that the decision was the outcome of the Senate’s executive session.

The demand for assets declaration certificates from nominees is a clear departure from what obtained in the upper legislative chamber since Nigeria returned to civil rule 16 years ago.

Melaye said: “Our meeting this (yesterday) morning was primarily to develop a procedure for the screening of ministerial nominees on Tuesday. We considered the approach for the screening and we shall be relying on Section 147 of the Constitution which state: ‘There shall be such offices of the ministers of the federation as may be appointed by the President.’

“This section shall be strictly adhered to by the Senate, meaning that there will be ministers from each state of the federation in compliance with the constitution.

“We shall also consider Section 65 which stipulates that only a person who is qualified to be a member of the House of Representatives can be qualified to be screened as a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“The Senate will not consider the screening of anybody who has held any public office except the person has declared his assets,” he said.

Melaye said that the Senate would insist on seeing the proof of assets declaration before a person who had held a public office could be cleared to be a ministerial position.

Still relying on its Standing Rule, he assured that former federal lawmakers among the nominees would enjoy preferential treatment.

Melaye said: “Although they will not be asked to simply take a bow and go, their screening will definitely not be as rigorous as it will be in the case of others”.

He said that the Senate would uphold its convention by insisting that two Senators from the state of any nominee must accept the nomination before such a nominee can be screened.

Melaye, however, said that he could not categorically say if that rule would be waived, stressing that “I cannot predict the future”,  explaining that the rule prescribing the endorsement by two senators was not cast in granite and that the rule could be subsumed under other weightier considerations.

The Senate spokesman said the constitutional provision, stipulating that each of the 36 states of the federation must have a representation in the Federal Executive Council (FEC) cabinet remained sacrosanct.

Based on this provision, President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to submit the remaining 15 nominees before the end of the screening, scheduled for next Tuesday and Wednesday.

The senator restated his earlier statement that the era of ‘bow and go’ was gone for good.

His words: “The Senate is not going to politicise the screening; there will be no provision for religion, tribe, ethnicity and other discrimination.

“All ministerial nominees must submit a minimum of 115 copies of their curriculum vitae to the upper legislative chamber on or before Monday Oct. 12,” he said.

The Senate has asked the President’s nominees for top positions in the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON); the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS); and the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) to wait till the ministerial nominees have been screened and cleared for appointment.

President Buhari had forwarded the list of nominees for the three agencies to the Senate about two weeks before the first list of ministerial nominees hit the Senate President’s Office on September 30.

ALL petitions against ministerial nominees are to be heard and considered before next Tuesday, it was learnt yesterday.

Senate President Bukola Saraki has mandated the Senate Committee on Ethics & Privileges to ensure that all petitions submitted against the nominees are considered before the scheduled date for the screening and confirmation of the nominees.

Saraki gave the order after receiving a three-page petition against the nomination of Amina Ibrahim from a group – the Southern Kaduna Coalition.

He directed Committee Chairman Senator Samuel Anyanwu, “to ensure that all the petitions we received against ministerial nominees are treated before the screening of nominees on Tuesday.”

The upper legislative chamber has been inundated with petitions from concerned Nigerians opposed to the nomination of certain persons on the list sent by President Muhammadu Buhari for consideration.

There have been protests over the nomination of Adebayo Shittu (Oyo State); Ahmed Ibeto (Niger); Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers) and Babatunde Fashola (Lagos).

But Senator Danjuma La’ah (Kaduna South) submitted the Southern Kaduna Coalition petition against the nomination addressed to the Senate President and entitled: “Petition against the submission of Amina Ibrahim Mohammed as ministerial nominee for Kaduna State.”

The Southern Kaduna Coalition is an amalgamation of all the pressure and public interest groups of Southern Kaduna extraction with the objectives, among others, of pursuing the socio-political interests of Southern Kaduna indigenes in the country and in the Diaspora.

They said that they are opposed to the nomination of Mohammed as a minister representing Kaduna State, alleging that she is not an indigene of Kaduna State. The nominee, the petitioners insisted hails from Gombe State.

The petition read in part: “In the discharge of his constitutional duty to appoint ministers to form the Federal Executive Council (FEC), President Muhammadu Buhari had, on Wednesday, the 30th of September, 2015, submitted the list of the ministerial nominees to the Senate vide your good office for screening and, possibly, clearance.

“At the plenary session of the Senate on Tuesday, the 6th of October, 2015, the list of the ministerial nominees was made known to the public. To our consternation, the ministerial nominee for Kaduna State was one, Amina Ibrahim Mohammed, who we have credible evidence to believe that she is an indigene of Gombe State and not Kaduna State as constitutionally required.

“We strongly object to the nomination of the Ministerial nominee for Kaduna State, Amina Ibrahim Mohammed. Our objection is predicated on the fact that we have reasons to believe that she is not an indigene of Kaduna State but Gombe State.

“The nomination and subsequent confirmation of ministers of the Federal Government is a constitutional exercise that must be strictly followed.

“First, section 14 (3) and (4) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provides thus:

“14 (3) The composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few State or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or in any of its agencies.

“(4) The composition of the Government of a State, a local government council, or any of the agencies of such government or council, and the conduct of the affairs of the government or council or such agencies shall be carried out in such manner as to recognise the diversity of the people within its area of authority and the need to promote a sense of belonging and loyalty among all the people of the Federation.”

The petitioners also quoted that Section 147(1), (2) and (3) of the Constitution provides as follows:

“147. (1)There shall be such offices of Ministers of the Government of the Federation as may be established by the President.

“(2) Any appointment to the office of Minister of the Government of the Federation shall, if the nomination of any person to such office is confirmed by the Senate, be made by the President.

“(3) Any appointment under subsection (2) of this section by the President shall be in conformity with the provisions of section 14(3) of this Constitution:- Provided that in giving effect to the provisions aforesaid the President shall appoint at least one Minister from each State, who shall be an indigene of such state.”

They further stated that “Usually, political offices in Kaduna State have always been fairly shared or distributed amongst the three (3) Senatorial Districts in line with the principles of Federal Character enshrined in section 14 (3) and (4) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. For instance, when the governor comes from the North Kaduna Senatorial District, the deputy governor and the ministerial slot will be zoned to South Kaduna Senatorial District.

“The Central Kaduna Senatorial District will then take the other key positions. Presently, apart from the Deputy Governor who is an indigene of South Kaduna Senatorial Districts, all the other key positions of governance have been shared between the other two Senatorial Districts.

“From the above constitutional provisions, the President is constitutionally and duty bound to observe the principles of Federal Character in the appointment of Ministers; and each State of the Federation must have a Minister who must be an indigene of that state.

“If the nomination of Amina Ibrahim Mohammed is allowed, the indigenes of the State, especially those from South Kaduna Senatorial District will be short-changed; and this will be against the Constitution which the President, the Senate President and all the Distinguished Senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria have sworn to uphold.

 “We pray that you will use your good office to reject the nomination of the said Amina Mohammed and direct that an indigene of Kaduna State, from South Kaduna Senatorial District, be nominated and sent to the Senate for screening.

“The need to have a nominee from South Kaduna is very important if the constitutional principle of Federal Character is to be maintained; and, also, to give the people a political belonging at the Federal level.”

The petition is endorsed by the Coordinator of the Coalition, Barrister James Kanyip

Signatories to the petition are: Gurara Patriot Foundation/Gurara Forum, Vincent Bodam; Southern Kaduna Youth/Student Forum –SKYFORM, Ganaka James Kogi; Southern Kaduna Youth Liberation Movement, Khalin Wujat; Southern Kaduna Progressive Union/SOKAPU Youth Wing, Sabastine Luka; Southern Kaduna Youth Advocacy Network,Bagudu Joseph; Souther Kaduna Women Entrepreneurs, Larai Ishaku; Southern Kaduna Ladies Forum, Grace Ndi Manasseh; Southern Kaduna Farmers Forum, Samuel Kambai; Southern Kaduna Lawyers Forum and Southern Kaduna Practicing Journalists, Bomba Dauda

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senators Ita Enang, said 10 of the ministerial nominees were in his office yesterday to submit their curriculum vitae. He said the 11 others will submit theirs today.

The Senate yesterday opened debate on a report of its ad-hoc committee on legislative agenda for the upper legislative chamber.

The proposed agenda identified and indicated the direction the Senate intends to take to achieve its goals in the next four years.

Senate Leader, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, presented the report compiled by 18 members.

The Senate, and indeed the National Assembly has been battling to reposition itself in the minds of Nigerians as an effective and capable legislative chamber working for Nigerians to improve living conditions and governance.

It said the upper chamber, in its work, would be guided by the country’s best interest and work cordially and in synergy with the House of Representatives, the Executive and the Judiciary to deliver on legislative goals and improve governance.

It said the Eighth Senate would take the business of legislation serious by ensuring that “our legislative drive and activities will be targeted at reforming critical sectors of the Nigerian society and economy and will aim to deliver development, reforms, transparency and accountability in government.”

It said the Senate would take legislative steps to combat poverty.

The agenda dealt with needs assessment, legislative processes, standing and ad-hoc committees, oversight functions and public hearing, ethical and code of conduct for members, tracking of bills, motions and other legislative assignments and reduction of cost of governance.

Other areas covered by the agenda included electronic archives, Senate museum, (historical data gallery  1999 to date, internal and external relations, annual budget, national economy and sustainable development and strategies for the implementation of the agenda.

Senator Oluremi Tinubu (Lagos Central) said the legislative agenda of the Eighth Senate should be tailored to give Nigerians what they wanted.

She said there was no doubt that a lot of things were wrong in the country.

Senator Tinubu said the upper chamber should avoid a situation where old wine was put in a new bottle in the name of legislative agenda.

She said the Senate must work to ensure that the rising poverty indices in the country were brought down.

The lawmaker said the Eighth Senate must not go the way of the Seventh Senate, which she said failed to do a lot of things, including passing the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).