Ministers:Buhari submits second list of ministerial nominees

Firstclass newsline gathered that President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday
forwarded the second batch of the ministerial nominees to the Senate,
in a sealed envelope as he did with the first batch sent in on
September 30.
The Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari; the Senior Special
Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate),
Senator Ita Enang; and his colleagues in the House of Representatives,
Abdurahman Sumaila, submitted the new list to the Senate President,
Dr. Bukola Saraki, in his office around 4:24pm.
A source had reported on Monday that the President would this week
submit the second list, which is expected to contain 15 nominees.
The Special Adviser to the Senate President, Alhaji Yusuph Olaniyonu,
who confirmed the submission of the second list to journalists,
explained that Saraki would not open the envelope until Tuesday
(today) during plenary when he was expected to read the list out to
his colleagues.
On the new list are said to be the names of Heineken Lokpobiri, a
former speaker of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly and two-time
senator; James Ocholi (SAN), who contested for the APC governorship
ticket in Kogi State but lost to Abubakar Audu in a recent primary;
Anthony Anwuka, a professor of education administration and a former
secretary to the Government of Imo State; and Isaac Adewole, a
professor of obstetrics and gynaecology.
Dan Ali, a retired brigadier-general, Okechukwu Enilamah, the CEO of
African Capital Alliance; and Claudius Omoyele Daramola, a professor
of sociology of education from Ondo State are also believed to be on
the list.
Also likely to be on the list are a serial governorship aspirant in
Abia State, Ikechi Emenike-Abia. He contested in the governorship race
a record three times, twice under the Peoples Democratic Party before
moving to the All Nigeria Peoples Party before it fused with other
opposition political parties to form the APC.
The list is also said to include a former Chairman of the National
Hajj Commission of Nigeria, Mohammed Bello, a nominee from Adamawa
State, while the South-East Zonal spokesman of the APC, Mr. Osita
Okechukwu, is said to be the nominee from Enugu State.
The names are in addition to the ones already speculated to be on the
second batch of ministerial nominees: a former President of the
Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo State); a former
Governor of Osun State, Chief Olagunsoye Oyinlola; and a former
Chairman of the National Population Commission, Chief Festus Odimegwu
(Imo).
Also, a former power minister, Prof. Barth Nnaji (Enugu), is said to
be on the list.
Panel suspends investigation of petitions
The Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions
however on Monday postponed further investigation into the petitions
brought before it against the nomination of former Governor Rotimi
Amaechi of Rivers State and Mrs. Amina Mohammed of Kaduna State.
The two are part of the 21 names contained in the first batch of
ministerial nominees earlier sent to the Senate. The screening of the
21 would commence on Tuesday (today).
The petition against Amaechi had been written by the Port
Harcourt-based Integrity Group and was submitted to the Senate by
Senator George Sekibo (PDP Rivers South East ), while the one against
Mohammed, written by a Kaduna-based lawyer, was submitted by Senator
Danjuma La'ah (Kaduna South).
While the Integrity Group sought the disqualification of Amaechi based
on alleged mismanagement of N70bn Rivers State money as governor,
Mohammed was accused of being nominated to represent Kaduna State when
she is not an indigene.
Amaechi, who appeared before the panel in company with his former
Commissioner for Information, Mrs Ibim Semenitari, and two members of
the House of Representatives, informed the panel that the matter upon
which the petition against him was predicated was already pending
before a court of competent jurisdiction.
The panel chairman, Samuel Anyanwu, explained that since the case was
already pending before a court, it would be subjudice to act on it.
He said, "We have a petition against Amaechi. And there is a letter
from his lawyer that they have a pending case in the court. We also
received a White Paper indicting him and we also received a Federal
High Court judgement that says that Amaechi cannot stop the judicial
commission from investigating him.
"He (Amaechi) went to the Appeal Court and the matter is pending in
Appeal Court. And in our Senate Rule, once a matter is in court, we
will not dwell into it," he said.
Also on Monday, Mohammed urged the committee to disregard the
allegations against her as contained in the petition.
"I was brought up in Kaduna. My father lived there but I have no
connection with Kaduna State. I am indigene of Gombe State and the
assumption is that I would be representing Gombe in the cabinet," she
told the panel when she appeared before it.
The author of the petition, Mr. James Kanyip, also said that he was
ready to withdraw the petition against the woman if his people were
satisfied that she would be representing Gombe State and not Kaduna in
the cabinet, contrary to the information in the media.
Speaking with journalists after the exercise, the panel chairman said
his committee received two petitions against Amaechi and Mohammed.
He said, "So far, we have treated the two petitions and the committee
is about putting down our report, which might be ready tomorrow
(today) and if we cannot conclude it tomorrow, then we will move to
the next day.
"This is something that is very important to the Senate and we must
take a very firm decision and scrutinise our report very properly.
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 has cleared."
Anyanwu said that only the two petitions forwarded to his committee
through the Senate would be recognised and treated.
PDP won't influence screening
Meanwhile, the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party has
said it will not ask its senators to vote against any of the
ministerial nominees.
It said the decision on what to do with any of the ministerial
nominees would be left to the senators.
National Publicity Secretary of the party, Chief Olisa Metuh, stated
this on a television programme monitored by a source in Abuja on
Monday.
Metuh said, "We control about 46 per cent of the Senate, but we won't
hold discussions with our senators on who to clear and not to clear.
"They are working for the people and are not representing the PDP
alone. We will leave them to follow their conscience and do the right
thing. We won't tell them to clear or not to clear any ministerial
nominee."
He described those nominated as ministers as "regular players" and
wondered why it took the President so much time to submit the list to
the Senate.
He also said that it would be difficult for the APC to attempt to
impeach the President of the Senate, who is considered to be
favourably disposed to the PDP agenda.
Saraki is an APC senator
Metuh said some of the senators, who are now members of the APC, still
had sympathy for the PDP and its ideologies.
Apart from Saraki, there are many senators who were hitherto members
of the PDP before they defected to the APC.
Metuh said, "We have no problem with the team President Buhari has
chosen. It is his prerogative to pick anyone he wants to work with.
Some APC members still share in our ideologies. We are not happy that
they left us.
"We thought the President was going to bring people from the United
States of America and other foreign countries. But he brought us a
regular list."
Metuh also said that former President Goodluck Jonathan had wanted to
appoint the current Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, as minister of petroleum but
that the plan did not work.
Metuh refused to give any reason why the plan failed, saying however
that Buhari should not claim the credit for discovering Kachikwu.
"The NNPC GMD was going to be a minister under the PDP two years ago,
but it didn't happen. Buhari didn't discover him," he added.
A rush for asset declaration
Many of the ministerial nominees, whose screening by the Senate would
commence on Tuesday (today) on Monday scrambled to declare their
assets to the Code of Conduct Bureau in Abuja.
The Senate, as part of its screening requirements, had said nominees
would be asked to provide proof of asset declaration.
Some of the nominees were said to have obtained, completed and
submitted their asset declaration forms (Forms CCB1) to the bureau's
headquarters in Abuja as of Monday.
Chairman of the CCB, Mr. Sam Saba, on Tuesday confirmed that "about
18" of the nominees had submitted their forms as of 5pm on Tuesday.
"Since the nominees have the liberty to collect their forms at our
offices in the various states, others could have collected their forms
in their states," Saba added while responding to enquiries by a source
on Monday.
Briefing journalists at the end of plenary held on October 8, Chairman
of the Senate Ad Hoc Committee on Media and Publicity, Dino Melaye,
said the upper chamber at its closed session had agreed that each
nominee must, among other requirements, submit proofs of their asset
declaration.
Submission of asset declaration form was not included in the
modalities for screening ministerial nominees in 2011.
The Senate president is however currently undergoing trial at the Code
of Conduct Tribunal for alleged false asset declaration when he was
the governor of Kwara State between 2003 and 2011.
Firstclass newsline gathered that Ahmed Ibeto collected his asset
declaration form from his Niger State while a former Governor of
Anambra State, Dr. Chris Ngige, collected and submitted his form in
Abuja.
Firstclass newsline could not confirm the names of the others who had
submitted their forms on Monday.
Saba however has said the ministerial nominees were required under
section 149 of the Constitution to declare their assets before their
screening by the Senate.
In an instant message sent to a source on Saturday, he said, "It is
the usual procedure (or as you put it, the convention) for ministerial
nominees to declare their assets before Senate screening; and not only
ministers but any would-be public officer, whether appointed or
elected, so long as he or she requires screening by the Senate.
"Section 149 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria (as amended) provides that 'the Minister of the Government of
the Federation shall not enter upon the duties of his office, unless
he has declared his assets as prescribed in the Constitution.'"
He said that in the past, the Presidential Liaison Officer would
usually collect the asset declaration forms from the bureau in bulk
for onward distribution to the nominees.
He said, "The Bureau would attend to the ministerial nominees on
demand of the Form CCB1from any of our offices in the 36 states plus
the office in the Federal Capital Territory and in the headquarters,
Abuja. The forms are however submitted at the headquarters in Abuja.
"In the past, Presidential Liaison Officers collected the forms for
such nominees, that is to say, request is made in bulk by the PLO for
the forms and issued out individually to each ministerial nominee."
The nominees, whose screening would commence today are Abubakar Malami
(SAN) (Kebbi); Abdurahman Bello Dambazzau (Kano); Aisha Jumai Al
Hassan (Taraba); Alhaji Lai Mohammed (Kwara); Babatunde Raji Fashola
(Lagos); Adebayo Shittu (Oyo); Solomon Dalong (Plateau); Senator Chris
Ngige (Anambra); Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers); and Chief Audu Ogbeh
(Benue).
Others are Mrs. Amina Ibrahim( Kaduna); Dr. Osagie Ehaneri (Edo);
Emmanuel Kachukwu (Delta); Dr. Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti); Mr. Suleiman
Adamu (Jigawa); Mrs. Kemi Adeosun (Ogun); Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu (Ebonyi);
Ahmed Isa Ibeto (Niger); Ibrahim Usman Jibril (Nasarawa); Senator Hadi
Sirika (Katsina); and Senator Udo Udoma (Akwa Ibom).
Firstclassnewsline.net