It’s a thing to be screened and another to be confirmed, Rivers senator warns Amaechi

Although Rotimi Amaechi, former governor of Rivers state, has finally been screened by the senate, one of the senators opposed to his nomination wants him to know that the battle is not yet over.

In a chat with NTA, George Sekibo, representative of Rivers east senatorial district, said “screening and confirmation are two different things”.

“If the order paper says we should take him, we will take him,” Sekibo said before the screening.

“It is not my own individual position; the senate position supersedes every other person’s position, so if his name is included in the order paper to be screened, he will be screened; we will not stop him.

“But the issue is not either to be screened or not to be screened. The issue is to be confirmed or not to be confirmed; they are two different issues. We cannot stop him from being screened but our plea is already before the senate. I don’t want to repeat it, it is before the senate. We have said it before the nation; it is in the court of the Nigerian people.

“The senators have the power to agree to what they want to agree to and to reject what they want to reject because it is not an individual matter, it’s not a personal matter, it’s a national matter.”

All the three senators from Rivers are against the nomination of Amaechi on the grounds of alleged corruption and fraud.

The former governor is being accused of mismanaging N70billion of Rivers state funds – an allegation Amaechi has denied, maintaining that he is being witch-hunted by his successor, Nyesom Wike.