The Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petition will today deliberate on the petition written against Ms Aisha Abubakar as a ministerial nominee from Sokoto State by a coalition of women from the state.
Chairman of the Committee, Senator Samuel Anyanwu (PDP,Imo East), who disclosed this yesterday, said the committee would have in audience today both Ms Abubakar and a representative of the petitioners against her.
He also disclosed that the Committee would finalize all pending reports on petitions against some ministerial nominees with a view to submitting them to the Senate tomorrow before the Chamber resumes screening of the remaining nominees.
It will be recalled that the nominees whose petitions are still pending at the Senate Committee are the former governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, and the nominee from Sokoto State, Ms Abubakar.
He stated that the Committee had done everything to ensure that the reports of the two petitions would be laid before the Senate tomorrow for consideration before commencement of screening exercise of the remaining 18 ministerial nominees.
The People’s Democratic Party chieftain, who won his tribunal case last Friday against his opponent, Hon. Uche Onyeagocha, explained that it was his journey to his state for the tribunal judgement that prevented the Committee from finalizing decisions and reports on the pending petitions.
“We will submit our reports on the petitions on Tuesday. We are going to hear the petition against the nominee from Sokoto, Ms Aisha Abubakar, tomorrow (today) and conclude everything about it, so that the report can be laid alongside Amaechi’s report on Tuesday. I believe that there are no serious encumbrances in these petitions that can stop us from submitting our reports.
“As I told you last time, it was the marathon screening that took place on Tuesday and Wednesday last week that made it impossible for us to sit and conclude that of Amaechi but this time around, we are going to sit before Tuesday and conclude everything so that we can forge ahead.
“By the grace of God, I don’t fail in assignments, and I believe that with the kind of committed men and women in the Committee, we will accomplish our assignment without any problem,” he said.
It will be recalled that the Committee had convened on Monday last week to investigate the petition against the Rivers State nominee ( Amaechi) by a PortHarcourt based Non-Goveenmental organization (NGO), called, Integrity Group on allegations bordering on corruption and graft while in office as governor.
The Committee, however, got stuck in the process when it was confirmed that the matter for which the petition was written against him was pending in court.
Amaechi’s name had been enlisted to be screened on Wednesday last week but because the report of the Ethics Committee was not submitted to the Senate for consideration, the former governor was dropped.
Also, the Senate received another petition on Thursday last week against the ministerial nominee from Sokoto State, Ms Aisha Abubakar.
Senator Ibrahim Gobir (APC, Sokoto East), who laid the petition on the floor of the apex legislative Chamber, said that the Sokoto women were the ones protesting her nomination and demanding for a replacement with a more competent person, alleging that Ms Abubakar was incompetent to represent the state as a minister.
Senator Gobir, however, avoided to speak to journalists, who besieged his office to get a copy of the petition and further clarification on the issues raised.
Meanwhile, Senator Anyanwu has denied the speculations that his Committee was under intense pressure from the nominees, whose petitions were pending, particularly Amaechi and his supporters.
He said, “When I hear these speculations I just laugh because there is nothing like that. I am just doing my work, and nobody has ever put pressure on me for anything since we received the petitions. So, there is no pressure on me or on the Committee as a whole”.