As expected, the screening of the former governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi on Thursday by the Senate did not go without drama and controversy.
The Senator Samuel Anyanwu-led Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Petitions submitted the report of the petition against Amaechi before the commencement of the ministerial screening. In his opening remarks, Amaechi greeted the senators and gave special recognition to senators from Rivers State.
He spoke on his political antecedents as Speaker and later Governor of Rivers State for eight years each, touching on his achievements in education, health, roads and public accountability among others. “We refined governance and repositioned leadership under my tenure as governor”, he said.
When it was time to ask questions, the Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio, raised a point of order, saying the PDP caucus in the Senate agreed not to ask Amaechi any question as a result of the petitions pending against his nomination. This position was however, rejected by the Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, who guided the Senate as its Leader.
Ndume also asked the Senate to permit the nominee to take a bow and go as a former member of the legislature, adding that Mr. Amaechi can be screened without debating the report of the committee on ethics.
The Senate leader’s reference to the PDP caucus as “you people”, in reference to their refusal to ask the ex-Rivers governor any question, however, did not go down well and he was forced to apologize and withdraw the comment.
After responding to questions from about eight All Progressives Congress senators for about an hour, the ministerial nominee was finally allowed to take his leave. The Senate also screened 4 other ministerial nominees Heineken Lokpobri (Bayelsa ); Omoleye Daramola (Ondo ); Adewole Folorunso (Osun); Baba Shehuri Mustapha (Borno); and Ocholi James (Kogi ). The Thursday screening takes the number of screened ministerial nominees to 25.
