Date: 2015-10-21

Senate plenary postposed to prevent Ekweremadu from presiding

Concern mounts over Appeal Court's decision to arrest ruling

PDP senators vow to oppose Amaechi's screening

High wire politics and intrigues surrounding the screening and confirmation of ministerial nominees assumed a new dimension yesterday when the Senate decided to postpone the entire exercise, as well as its plenary.

Although no reason was given for the postponement, sources said it was as a result of the resumption of Senate President Bukola Saraki's trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) today.

According to the acting Clerk of the Senate, Nelson Ayewoh, plenary will resume tomorrow.

With the postponement of plenary and ministerial screening, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, who under normal circumstances should have presided today, has also been prevented from doing so.

It is believed that the decision not to allow Ekweremadu to preside since he became Saraki's deputy is a fallout of the controversy which trailed his emergence as Saraki's deputy from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as well as the anger it caused among members of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

A senator, who preferred not to be named, also explained that the reason for keeping Ekweremadu out in the cold, albeit temporarily, was a strategic one in order to prevent him from presiding over the Senate today when the screening of the former Rivers State Governor Chibuike Amaechi, should have come up.

He said since the PDP caucus of the Senate yesterday unanimously resolved to oppose Amaechi's screening and confirmation, allowing Ekweremadu to preside today would amount to "leading a lamb, in this case Amaechi, to the slaughter", as the PDP senators would have their way by not confirming his nomination.

Saraki is facing a 13-count charge for false declaration of assets preferred against him by the Code of Conduction Bureau (CCB). His trial remains on course, as both the Federal High Court and Federal Court of Appeal deferred adjudication on the suits filed by Saraki challenging the jurisdiction of CCT on the matter.

The Senate president had through his counsel prayed the Court of Appeal for an order halting his trial by the tribunal pending the hearing and determination of his motion on notice before the appellate court.

But the appellate court, against expectations on Monday, postponed ruling on the case indefinitely. The court, which had earlier granted accelerated hearing to the appellant, and fixed October 19 for definite ruling on the case, failed to offer an explanation for the postponement but said it would communicate a new date to the parties to the suit.

In the same vein, the presiding judge handling the case at the Federal High Court, Justice Ahmed Mohammed, two weeks ago remitted the case to the chief judge for re-assignment, citing media pressure.

The Dalandi Umar-led tribunal, in which Saraki was arraigned on September 22, fixed continuation of his trial for October 21, 22 and 23 for the federal government to prove the charges brought against him. But Saraki on the day pleaded not guilty to the 13-count charge, maintaining that he was being prosecuted at the tribunal because he was the Senate President.

He also faulted the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) over its failure to first invite him to draw his attention to the discrepancies, if any, to his asset declaration forms for clarification as demanded by law.

However, concerns are mounting over the Court of Appeal's unexplained decision to defer the ruling on Saraki's suit indefinitely. Another senator, who spoke on the issue, warned that the judges of the Court of Appeal were essentially dragging the judiciary into the political fray, adding that it was a throwback to the impunity that prevailed in the PDP era.

The senator, who is also a lawyer, pointed out that it was worrisome that the Court of Appeal had set a date for ruling on Saraki's case challenging the jurisdiction of the CCT, "yet it postponed ruling without an explanation".

"It shows that there were external factors that informed the judges' decision to postpone indefinitely and this is a dent on the so-called war against corruption and the change mantra of the Muhammadu Buhari administration and the All Progressives Congress (APC)," he added.

Meanwhile, the uncertainty over Amaechi's ministerial nomination continued in the Senate yesterday, when the PDP caucus of the upper chamber rose from its meeting vowing to resist the former Rivers governor's screening and confirmation.

Accordingly, THISDAY learnt that the senators resolved to endorse the report of the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions said to have recommended that the screening of Amaechi should not be considered since doing so would be sub-judice.

A source told THISDAY that the PDP senators were vehement in their resolve to ensure that the report is not discarded but should serve as the basis for the suspension of the screening of the former governor in accordance with Order 53(5) of the Senate Standing Orders. The order prohibits the consideration of any matter that is before a law court if in the opinion of the president of the senate taking such a matter will be sub-judice.

Amaechi had told the committee while appearing before it last week that the matter contained in the petition against his screening by The Integrity Group was already sub-judice, thus forcing the committee to announce its withdrawal from its investigation. THISDAY also learnt that the screening process might be prolonged, as the repeat of last week's exercise during which no fewer than 10 ministerial nominees were screened in one day, would not happen again.

Instead, the screening will now be done piecemeal, that is, only two or three nominees will be screened a day. With the PDP senators' resolution, Amaechi has succeeded in polarising the Senate, as the APC senators had at their own caucus meeting on Monday resolved to back his screening and confirmation.

Earlier yesterday, the initial order paper containing the business of the day circulated by the Senate had listed Amaechi as the third on a list of eight ministerial nominees scheduled for screening, but the senators went into a closed-door session, following which the order paper was withdrawn and replaced with another one which reduced the number of those slated for screening to three.

Consequently, Amaechi's name disappeared from the list while the three names presented in the revised list were Adebayo Shittu (Oyo); Prof. Omoleye Daramola (Ondo) and Khadijah Abba-Ibrahim. There was no official reason from the senate for the sudden change. An APC senator, who did not want to be named, however told THISDAY yesterday that Amaechi's screening was put off to avoid an uproar during his screening among the senators. According to him, since the APC had resolved to back him, there was an appeal by the leadership of the Senate to the PDP caucus to appease those who were strongly opposed to his screening.

The source added that this move led to the decision to screen only three ministerial nominees yesterday so that the PDP senators would have ample time to resolve among themselves how Amaechi's screening would be devoid of rancour today. He explained: "The screening was put off today (yesterday) to enable members of PDP caucus appease the hardliners among them to smoothen the path for Amaechi's screening.

"The truth is that whether anyone likes it or not, Amaechi will be confirmed. We in the APC caucus have resolved to confirm Amaechi." With Amaechi's fate still undecided, the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions again failed to submit its report on the petition by The Integrity Group against his screening.

It was learnt that the presentation of the report yesterday was considered unnecessary since Amaechi was not going to be screened, even though he was in the National Assembly along with the other seven nominees.

Nevertheless, confusion arose when Shittu and Abbah-Ibrahim were eventually screened yesterday as slated in the revised order paper, but Daramola was not screened.

The source explained that Daramola's screening was suspended till today to enable PDP members hold their caucus meeting. Shittu, during his screening, denied an allegation that he was indicted in 2000 over his roles in a religious crisis. He said he was in Saudi Arabia when a gazette purportedly indicting him was issued by the government of Oyo State.

According to him, he was never invited by the Commission of Inquiry, which investigated the crisis, adding that in law, no panel can indict anyone who has not been invited to defend himself against an allegation.

He claimed that his purported indictment was not an indictment after all, arguing that the gazette only advised him to refrain from publishing inflammatory comments capable of fuelling a religious crisis and further denied the allegation that he was a religious fanatic. He also added that the government had thereafter pardoned those indicted in the gazette, thus rendering his alleged indictment null and void.

Also screened yesterday was Mrs. Abba-Ibrahim, a third-term member of the House of Representatives, who is also the wife of a former governor of Yobe State and three term senator, Bukar Abba-Ibrahim.

After introducing herself, in accordance with the Senate's tradition, she was asked to bow and go. Prior to the screening of the two ministerial nominees, the Senate yesterday received more petitions against other nominees. The first was from Senator Achom Nneji (Imo North), who presented 10 petitions against the nomination of Professor Anthony Auwuka of Imo State to the upper chamber.

Although details of the petitions were not available yesterday, Auwuka, a former Vice-Chancellor of Imo State University, was alleged to have run the institution with impunity.

Also, a group, known as Concerned Professors, who are against the nomination of a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan (UI) and nominee from Osun State, Professor Isaac Adewole, submitted a petition to office of the senate president.

Among others, the UI professors accused Adewole of mismanaging the university's funds and called for his investigation. They also accused him of covering the alleged diversion of the institution's money from its bank account with the defunct Afribank, UI branch by his wife's cousin to a private bank account.

"In the spirit of the fight against corruption by the government, it is appropriate to investigate the several matters of mismanagement and diversion of public funds raised against Professor Adewole in the aforementioned petition before he is considered for the position of Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

"The signal sent to the University of Ibadan community and indeed the whole world by Professor Adewole's nomination is that these acts of corruption on the part of Professor Adewole do not matter to the government," the petitioners said.

The petitioners further alleged that as the Provost of the College of Medicine, UI between 2002 and 2006, Adewole used his position to employ his second wife as a lecturer in his department instead of employing a more qualified candidate, Dr. Aihmaku, at the time.