Barely 24 hours after Senate President,
Bukola Saraki, read the names of 21
ministerial nominees from President
Muhammadu Buhari, a formal petition was
received by the Senate yesterday opposing
the nomination of former Rivers State
Governor, Rotimi Amaechi.
The petition, which was written by a Port
Harcourt, Rivers State-based
nongovernmental organisation called “The
Integrity Group”, was submitted to the
Senate through Senator George Sekibo
(Rivers East).
Besides addressing the letter to the Senate
President, the group also copied the Deputy
Senate President as well as the three
senators representing Rivers State.
Rising under Order 41 of the Senate Standing
Orders 2015, Sekibo explained that he was
obliged to transmit the petition by virtue of
the fact that he represents the group in the
Senate.
After Sekibo laid the petition before the
Senate, the Senate President directed that it
should be transmitted to the Committee on
Petition, Ethics and Privileges for necessary
action.
The petition was entitled, “Chibuike Amaechi:
Demand to Withdraw and Reject his
Nomination and Appointment on the Grounds
of Corruption, Criminal Breach of Trust,
Unlawful Enrichment and Conversion of over
N70bn Rivers People’s Monies by the
former Governor of Rivers State.”
In the petition, the group expressed
disappointment and displeasure that despite
the pendency of its petition against Amaechi
before both the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission, EFCC, and Independent
Corrupt Practices and other related offences
Commission, ICPC, which are yet to be
disposed off, the president went ahead to
nominate the former governor as a
ministerial candidate.
The group listed alleged corruption cases
against Amaechi to include the fraudulent
sale of Rivers State power projects and
conversion of the proceeds amounting to
N60.480bn, unlawful payment to and
fraudulent conversion of N4.6bn Clinoriv
Specialist Hospital and Leisure Limited and
the unlawful enrichment of Messrs Collect
Nigeria Limited with public funds to the tune
of N1.5bn.
It wondered whether it did not amount to
accommodating, as well as re-enacting
corruption as acceptable in view of the
incriminating allegations against Amaechi if
the Senate went ahead to confirm him as a
minister of the AMFederal Republic of
Nigeria.
In another development, Imo State governor,
Rochas Okorocha, is fighting a fierce
political battle to ensure that President
Muhammadu Buhari nominates his
candidate, Prof. Anthony Anwukah, as
minister to take the slot of the state in the
next list that would be submitted to the
Senate for screening soon.
It was learnt that pressure mounted by
Governor Okorocha was responsible for the
last minute decision to drop the former
Managing Director of Nigerian Breweries
Limited, NBL, Chief Festus Odimegwu, from
the list submitted by the president last
week.
Although Chief Odimegwu is still in
contention, our correspondent gathered that
the former National Population Commission,
NPC, chairman, being the favourite of many
politicians, was picked by the president
because of his track record as a technocrat.
However, Okorocha, who wanted to have a
strong influence and relevance in APC for
his 2019 ambition, felt that appointing Eze
Odimegwu from the same Orlu sensational
district would thwart the ambition as he
would not have absolute control over the
former NPC chairman.
According to a source close to Government
House, the governor who had contacted
several top politicians from the north,
including Emirs and Imams serving in Aso
Rock to assist him plead with the president
to appoint his candidate, has been fighting
tooth and nail to ensure that Prof. Anwukah,
who was his former Secretary to the
Government and in-law occupies the
ministerial position.
This, it was learnt, became imperative as
attempt to lobby the president to appoint
Anwukah as Secretary to the Government of
Federation failed.
The governor had earlier presented three
nominees- Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, Chief Chris
Ngige and Prof. Anwukah to President Buhari
for the position of SGF but the request was
turned down as the post was zoned to North
Central.
The source said that tension in the
government circle however eased yesterday
when the Senate president announced the
ministerial nominees without the name of
Chief Odimegwu mentioned.
It was also gathered that in Chief
Odimegwu’s camp, friends were crestfallen
when the announcement was made without
the industrialist being named.
Meanwhile, ministerial nominee from Oyo
State, Mr. Adebayo Shittu, on yesterday
criticised the state chapter of All
Progressives Congress, APC, for allegedly
rejecting his nomination by President Buhari.
His media office, in a statement issued in
Ibadan, said Buhari’s choice of Shittu is a
divine gift to Oyo State, noting with dismay
the claim in the report that the nomination
was not acceptable to the party.
While wondering the power and authority
under which the said individuals were acting
to believe they were in the best position to
select the cabinet for Mr. President, it
enjoined members of the public to disregard
the entire report as lacking in content and
purpose, stressing that only those
masquerading as agents of the devil would
come out to say Shittu was not a legitimate
member of the APC in the state.
The statement reminded the anti-Shittu
elements in the APC to face the reality and
embrace the man to assist the President in
his quest to remove the country from the
quagmire into which the long years of
misrule had plunged the country.

nationalmirroronline.net/new/ministerial-list-petitions-against-amaechi-flood-senate/

It is normal...they rarely count!
In my checklist, Augusto (2007) and just a few others have ever unscaled petition on the floor of that Senate.
Simply because...
Our leaders are never sincere; their ulterior motives always override the country's interest!

Amechi is a thief therefore he should be removed

It will die a natural death....

No weapon fashioned against Ameachi shall prosper...

Must he be a minister? Buhari should safe him by giving him sone thing different

,...

Aint reading this until u summarize it


Ya dig ??

Beremx, fasting n prayer is needed

Lol, Rotimi Amaechi is like a sword of Damocles hanging on Buhrai's neck. If Buhari takes Amaechi as minister, Buhari's anti-corruption stance gets evaporated.

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm