Saraki unveils chairmen of 65 standing cittees

* APC chairs 41, PDP gets 24

* Mark rejects appointment

By Henry Umoru & Joseph Erunke

ABUJA—SENATE President Bukola Saraki,yesterday, in a move calculated to assuage the demands of the various tendencies in the Senate unveiled chairmen and deputy chairmen of the 65 standing committees.

Bukola Saraki

Contrary to speculations that the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, would rub shoulders with the All Progressives Congress, APC, the ruling party clearly dominated headship of the committees with 41 slots or 63 per cent while the PDP got 24 chairmanship posts or 38 per cent

Compensates loyalists

While compensating his loyalists on the banner of the Like Minds, he also took care of his opponents in the Senate Unity Forum led by Senator Ahmed Lawan.

Members of the Like Minds that got chairmanship slots include former governor of Gombe State, Senator Danjuma Goje (Appropriation); Dino Melaye (Federal Capital Territory); Shaaba Lafiagi (National Security and intelligence); Andy Uba (Public Accounts); Rafiu Adebayo (Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions); Isa Hamman Misau (Navy) and Ahmed Rufai Sani, (Marine Transport) among others.

And for the SUF, they were Senator Ahmed Lawan (Defence); Senator George Akume (Army); Adamu Abdullahi (Agriculture); Senator Barnabas Gemade (Housing); Senator Oluremi Tinubu (Women Affairs); Olugbenga Ashafa (Land Transport); Bayero Nafada (Inter- Parliamentary Affairs); Abu Ibrahim (Police Affairs); Kabir Marafa (National Identity and National Population); Rabiu Kwankaso (National Planning and Economic Affairs) among others.

According to the breakdown, the Pro- Ahmed Lawan group got 13 chairmanship positions.

PDP senators with juicy committees

Some PDP senators were also given what could be termed juicy committees to chair like Andy Uba (Public Accounts); Duro Samuel Faseyi (Air Force); Uche Ekwunife (Downstream); John Owan Enoh (Finance); George Sekibo (Interior); Ben Murray Bruce (Privatizations); and Olaka Johnson Nwogu (Environment) among others.

Principal officers denied chairmanship positions

Principal officers were given vice chairmanship positions like Bala Ibn Na’allah (Ethics and Privileges and Aviation); Francis Alimikhena (Housing); Godswill Akpbabio (Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters); Philip Aduda (Land Transport); and Olusola Adeyeye (Primary Health Care and Communicative Diseases).

Mark opts out

It was however gathered that immediate past Senate President, Senator David Mark was said to have opted out of serving as chairman of any standing committee.

Uzodinma, Nnaji, Boroffice retain positions

Senators Hope Uzodinma, Gilbert Nnaji and Robert Ajayi Boroffice retained the chairmanship positions of Aviation, Communications and Science and Technology, respectively, which they occupied during the 7th Senate.

However, Senators Emmanuel Paulker, James Manager, Enyinnaya Abaribe, Bukar Abba Ibrahim and Kabiru Gaya among others did not retain their positions.

While Paulker moved to the Committee on Establishment; Manager moved to Power; Gaya now heads Works and Abaribe now chairs Committee on Information and National Orientation.

North-Central gets lion’s share

With the breakdown, the North Central zone, where Senate President Saraki hails from the highest number of the positions. It got 12 committees and with Senate President Saraki as Chairman, Committee on Selection, the zone has 13. It is followed by the North-East, which has 11 chairmen; North-West, 11; South-West, 11; South-East, 10; and South-South, 10.

CCT: Saraki’s trial forces adjournment till next Tuesday

Meanwhile, the Senate will not sit today as it has adjourned plenary till next Tuesday.

Vanguard gathered that the adjournment became imperative because of Senate President Saraki’s appearance at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT with the Senators expected to accompany him to face the case of alleged false declaration of assets as raised against him by the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB.

Immediate past Chairman of Ad-hoc Committee on Media and Publicity, Senator Dino Melaye explained that the adjournment would give members of four Committees that have been saddled with responsibilities enough time to do their work and present their reports to the Senate, next week.

Saraki unveils chairmen of 65 standing cittees

Mild Drama in senate over petition against Amaechi

THERE was a mild drama on the floor of the Senate on Wednesday when a lawmaker representing Rivers East Senatorial District, George Sekibo, rose to present a petition against the nomination of former governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, as a minister.

Senate

No sooner than Sekibo, who is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, raised a point of order to submit the petition than the All Progressives Congress senators kicked against the submission, and raised their voice, shouting No!! No!!!

Notwithstanding the reaction of the APC senators, Sekibo went ahead with his point of order and got the permission of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, to submit the document on behalf of his other colleagues from Rivers State.

Saraki, who ignored the protests of his party members, referred the petition to the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions to investigate the allegations against Amaechi and report back to the Senate.

Speaking with journalists in his office shortly after the plenary, Sekibo said the petition was based on an investigation carried out by a Port Harcourt-based group, called the Integrity Group.

Sekibo said the same petition had earlier been forwarded to President Muhammadu Buhari and the various anti-graft agencies in the country about two months ago when the group concluded its investigation.

He said, “The Integrity Group, based in Port Harcourt, believes in transparency, fighting against corruption. They (Integrity Group) believe in good governance and effective utilisation of every fund that is allocated to any state government.

“They went into a research and discovered that over N70bn were transferred from hard currency account to places outside the country. A petition on this note was written to Mr. President. I believe the President has not read it.

“If he has read it, he may not have hurriedly nominated Rotimi Amaechi to be a minister. Amaechi is qualified to be a minister, but when issues of corruption and fraud are openly X-rayed by people, it is necessary for Mr. President to take a critical look and examine the allegations whether they are true or not.”

Sekibo said senators from Rivers State were not kicking against the appointment of a Rivers man to be a minister, but that Buhari should pick another member of the APC from the state with cleaner records.

Reacting to the action of the APC senators, a Peoples Democratic Party member representing Delta Central Senatorial District, Senator Ighoyota Amori, lamented the development, stressing that such behaviour would send negative signals to Nigerians.

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Information, Media and Publicity, Senator Dino Melaye, on Wednesday explained why the APC members in the upper chamber protested the submission of petition against the nomination of Amaechi, as a minister.

Melaye told one of our correspondents in an interview that his colleagues in the APC protested against the submission of the petition because it was submitted by senators.

He said, “Our responsibility as senators is to screen the ministerial nominees based on petitions received from outsiders like civil society organisations, and communities and not from senators.

“We specifically objected to Senator George Sekibo presenting the petition not because we are against the investigation of allegation against Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, but because the petition was brought by senators.

“Petitions should come from outside. They should not be sponsored by members within the chamber. We should not be the judge in our own case.”

Meanwhile, the Rivers State chapter of the APC has flayed Sekibo for his attempt to submit a petition against Amaechi’s nomination as a minister.

The State Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mr. Chris Finebone, said Sekibo lacked the basic knowledge of how Amaechi administration worked.

Finebone recalled in a statement issued in Port Harcourt on Wednesday that Amaechi had supported Sekibo’s second term bid for the Senate against the wish of the current governor of the state, describing the lawmaker as a man that bit the finger that fed him.

Mild Drama in senate over petition against Amaechi

APC’s wobbly start in National Assembly

The emergence of Senator Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara as Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives respectively has, undoubtedly, altered political calculations within the All Progressives Congress.

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Although the duo are members of the APC, their party showed preference for Senator Ahmed Lawan and Femi Gbajabiamila – for the two top positions in the National Assembly.

To demonstrate its seriousness, the party held mock elections on Saturday after which it announced Lawan and Gbajabiamila, as its sole candidates for the polls that took place in the National Assembly on Tuesday.

Saraki, Dogara and their supporters not only boycotted the shadow elections, they vowed to defy the party by mounting a challenge against the preferred candidates.

No doubt, the decision of the two to defy the party underscored a deep rift among the leading figures within the ruling party.

This was perhaps aptly shown by the reactions of party leaders after the emergence of the new leaders.

Members of the party’s National Working Committee held an emergency meeting after which they issued a statement rejecting Saraki and Dogara as the leaders of the National Assembly.

The party threatened sanctions against all its members involved in the process which produced the two in defiance of its directives.

Specifically, the party, in the statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said, “The APC leadership is meeting in a bid to re-establish discipline in the party and to mete out the necessary sanctions to all those involved in what is nothing but a monumental act of indiscipline and betrayal aimed at subjecting the party to ridicule and create obstacles for the new administration.”

A few minutes after the APC statement, President Muhammadu Buhari and a former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, issued separate statements commending the elections.

Buhari, in a statement signed by his Special Adviser (Media and Publicity), Femi Adesina, restated his earlier stance that he did not have any preferred candidates for the Senate and the House of Representatives leadership positions and that he was willing to work with whoever the lawmakers elected.

Atiku on his part congratulated the newly elected leaders. He said in a statement by his Media Office that, “Irrespective of the political mix through which the presiding officers emerged, the 8th National Assembly should never lose focus of its role as a partner in progress with other arms of government especially the executive arm.”

With conflicting signals coming from leading figures of the party, there is little doubt that the APC will be faced with some, if not most of the problems, which marked the latter days of the former ruling Peoples Democratic Party.

The party leadership is faced with the grim reality of trying to “enforce discipline” within its fold. This, in itself, is potentially a volatile road to travel if not properly handled.

The Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Alhaji Abdullahi Jalo, expressed delight about the turn of events in the National Assembly.

According to him, the seed sown by the APC in the House of Representatives in 2011, with the election of Aminu Tambuwal as Speaker, against the wishes of the PDP has grown into a very big tree, the fruit of which the APC is now generously reaping from.

He however said, “The reality today is that we all need each other to move forward. The new Senate President will benefit from the experience of Ekweremadu who has been the DSP for eight years and vice versa. I believe Nigeria and Nigerians will be the better for it.”

How the APC resolves this and other challenges which they will definitely be confronted with in the coming days, weeks, and months, will define the party’s character and future.

APC’s wobbly start in National Assembly