Senate still awaiting ministerial list, says Saraki

Saraki, who disclosed this in his speech at the upper legislative chamber‎, said when the senate  gets the list, it would screen the nominees transparently without pettiness or political vendetta.

Saraki read out some letters from Buhari, but none of them was a correspondence from the president seeking the approval of ministerial nominees.

Buhari wrote the senate seeking confirmation of the appointment of William Babatunde Fowler as chairman of the Federal In‎land Revenue Service (FIRS).

He also asked the senate to confirm the appointment of Ahmed Lawal Kure as chairman of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria‎ (AMCON), and Garba Danbata as chairman of the Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC).

In his speech, Saraki said his trial by the CCT was because he is senate president, adding that some forces who had failed in their attempt to influence the‎ senate from the outside were trying to ridicule the leadership.

‎‎”As we await the list of ministerial nominees this week, I believe the presence of ministers will create the space for greater policy engagement with the executive arm of government and enable us to begin to respond in a more systematic manner to the various economic and social challenges before us, especially through our various committees that will also be constituted soon,” he said.

“On this note, I want to urge you all my colleagues to ensure that what is uppermost in our minds as we begin the constitutional task of screening of ministerial nominees is the overall interest of our country, informed by the enormity and the urgency of the challenges before us. Once the list is submitted, let us ensure that we treat it with dispatch. We must not be held down by unnecessary politicking. The enormity of our national challenges at this time does not give room for pettiness or politics of vendetta.

“Distinguished senators, I believe you have all followed with keen interest, my trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal. I shall avoid discussing the details of that case here for obvious reasons. But let me say it again, that I am ready and will submit myself to the entire judicial process as provided by law.

“Meanwhile, I wish to reiterate my remarks before the tribunal, that I have no iota of doubt that I am on trial today because I am the president of the Nigerian senate, against the wishes of some powerful individuals outside this chambers. But what is clear to me also, is that the laws of Nigeria, and the rules of the national assembly give consideration only to the wishes and desires of those of you who are here today as members of the senate, to elect as you wish, one of your peers as president of the senate.

“This, in your wisdom, is what you have done by electing me to be the first among all of you who are my equals. The laws of Nigeria do not give any consideration to any other forces outside the senate in the election of its president. And to yield the ground on this note, is to be complicit in the subversion of democracy and its core principles of separation of powers as enshrined in our constitution. This is why we must once again, commend President Muhammadu Buhari, for refusing to interfere in the election of the national assembly leadership even in the face of enormous pressures on him to do so. He has proven quite concretely that he is indeed a born-again democrat.”‎‎