Cabinet: Senate gets 15 more nominees
Amaechi, Amina scale through first hurdle
President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday submitted the second batch of ministerial nominees to Senate President Bukola Saraki.
The President on November 30 first submitted 21 nominees whose confirmation hearing will open this morning at the Senate.
The list of the nominees was submitted by Chief of staff to the President Alhaji Abba Kyari at about 4.30pm yesterday.
He was accompanied by National Assembly Liaison officers - Senator Ita Enang (Senate) and Alhaji Abdulrahman Kawu Sumaila (House of Representatives).
Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to Saraki, Mr Yusuph Olaniyonu confirmed the submission of the list.
However, he said Senate President Bukola Saraki would not reveal the names of the nominees until at plenary today.
Daily Trust heard last night that some of the names said to be on the latest list include Prof Isaac Adewole, Vice Chancellor of University of Ibadan; James Ocholi (SAN), a former governorship aspirant in Kogi state; Heineken Lokpobiri, a former Senator; Brigadier Mahmud Mansur Dan Ali (rtd); Okechukwu Enelamah, MD, African Capital Alliance; Prof Anthony Anwuka, former SSG of Imo State; Claudis Omoleye Daramola and Aisha Abubakar. The names could not be independently confirmed as at the time of filing this report.
Meanwhile, former governor of Rivers state Rotimi Amaechi and the Special Adviser to UN Secretary General on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Hajiya Amina Ibrahim Mohammed yesterday scaled through their first hurdle.
They appeared before the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions over petitions written against their nomination.
Last week Senator George Thompson Sekibo (PDP, Rivers East) and Senator Danjuma La'ah (PDP, Kaduna South) presented petitions against Amaechi and Mrs Mohammed respectively.
The petitions were referred to the Ethics committee but during the sitting of the committee yesterday, the two nominees were cleared.
Speaking at the sitting of the committee, Mrs Mohammed said she is an indigene of Gombe and not Kaduna state.
“I’m an indigene of Gombe state; the whole thing is extremely strange to me. But for Kaduna, I was brought up there, I schooled there and my father who was a Federal civil servant lived there. I have no connection with Kaduna State. There is no dispute about my state of origin," she said.
Asked whether she knows where she would be representing at the Federal cabinet, she said, “I will assume that my appointment is representing Gombe state because I'm an indigene of Gombe state".
When he appeared before the committee, the petitioner, Barrister James Kanyip said he wrote the petition against Mrs Mohammed based on a report he read on the social media.
Chairman of the committee, Samuel Anyanwu said they had established the fact that Mrs Mohammed was not from Kaduna.
Also commenting on the petition against Amaechi, Anyanwu said the matter could not be entertained any longer because it was before a court.
Anyanwu had asked Amaechi who appeared before the committee whether there was a pending legal matter on the issue, Amaechi answered in affirmative.
“If the issue is already pending in the court, it is in our standing rules that any matter in Court should not be entertained.
“We will not entertain it because it will amount to subjudice. We will not want to run fowl of the law, we hereby suspend the petition," he said.
Responding, Amaechi said," When I was invited, I know justice will be done by the committee ".
The President had nominated 21 ministers as follows.
1.Dr. Chris Ngige (Anambra); 2. Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti); 3. Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers); 4. Babatunde Fashola (Lagos); 5. Abdurrahman Dambazau (rtd) (Kano); 6. Aisha AlHassan (Taraba); 7. Ogbonaya Onu (Abia); 8. Kemi Adeosun (Ogun); 9. Abubakar Malami SAN (Kebbi); 10. Senator Sirika Hadi (Katsina); 11. Barrister Adebayo Shittu (Oyo); 12. Sulaiman Adamu (Jigawa); 13. Solomon Dalong (Plateau); 14.Ibe Kachikwu (Delta); 15. Osagie Ehanire (Edo; 17. Udoma Udo-Udoma (Akwa Ibom); 18. Ahmed Musa Ibeto (Niger); 19. Ibrahim Usman Jibril (Nasarawa); 20. Audu Ogbeh (Benue); 21. Amina Mohammed (Gombe)
States whose nominees will be announced this morning are: Adamawa, Borno, Yobe, Bauchi, Kaduna, Zamfara, Kogi, Osun, Ondo; Enugu, Imo, Abia, Cross Rivers and Bayelsa states.