Senate confirms Obanikoro, Gusau, eight others as ministers

The Senate on Tuesday approved the nomination of 11 out of the 12 ministerial nominees forwarded to it by President Goodluck Jonathan two weeks ago.

Those whose nominations   were confirmed by the Senate as ministers are a former Nigeria’s ambassador to Ghana, Musilu Obanikoro, (Lagos State); an ex-National Security Adviser to both former President Olusegun Obasanjo and President Goodluck Jonathan, Gen. Aliyu Gusau (Zamfara State); a former governor of Adamawa State,  Boni Haruna (Adamawa);  Ambassador Aminu Wali (Kano);  Mohammed Wakil (Borno State), Dr Khaliru Alhassan (Sokoto State), and Alhaji Abdujelili Adesiyan (Osun State).

Others are Mrs Akon Etim Eyakenyi ( Akwa Ibom State), Asabe Asmau Ahmed (Niger State), Mrs. Lawrencia Labaran Mallam (Kaduna State); and Dr. Tamuno Danagogo (Rivers State).

The Senate however deferred the screening of the 12th nominee, Hajia Jamila Salik, from Kano State, because she did not appear before the Senate on Tuesday.

Three members of the upper chamber from Osun State, Senators Olusola Adeyeye, Babajide Omoworare, and Mudashiru Hussein, had made futile efforts to stop the confirmation of Adesiyan, the ministerial nominee from their state.

Adeyeye, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, had raised a point of order to stop the final confirmation of the nomination of Adesiyan on the grounds that he was allegedly linked to the assassination of the former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, the late Chief Bola Ige, in December 2001.

The Senator said the nominee did not convince the three senators that he was innocent of the death of Ige.

Adeyeye argued that the Senate tradition of not confirming nomination of any nominee that lacked the support of any of the senators from his/her state should be respected.

He said, “Judicial acquittal or not, the albatross of the death of the late Ige is still hanging around the neck of Adesiyan and few others, which made his nomination as a minister very difficult to accept.

“We are of the opinion that there are many other people in the state that can be nominated for such sensitive position by the President and, even if we are to put that apart, the fact that the entire three Senators from Osun State are against him clearly shows that his nomination should not be confirmed by the Senate in line with its convention”

Adeyeye, who said Adesiyan’s nomination was the first of such to be kicked against by Senators from Osun, said five other similar nominees from the state in the past had been supported by them in spite of party differences.

He said, “This opposition against Adesiyan’s confirmation is not being brought forward through any frivolous reasons or interest bordering on partisanship but rather genuine interest of Osun indigenes and by extension, that of concerned Nigerians.

“We do not believe that the President of our country would be best served by the appointment of Mr. Adesiyan in any way in relation to late Chief Ige’s murder over 12 years ago.”

The Senate president however, ruled Adeyeye out of order and argued that the matter of Bola Ige’s murder had long been taken to court and decided upon and that Adesiyan was thoroughly grilled over the matter in the Senate last week.

Mark said, “We must put all these things behind us since the court of law had ruled over the matter.

“This senate is not a law court and we all heard the voice vote from Senators confirming the nomination of Adesiyan along with 10 others as ministers.”

The senate president added that Adeyeye’s privilege was not breached in any way.

Mark however advised the newly-confirmed minister to “bring additional value on board” since, according to him, the Senate would no longer “see their break lights again.”

“Those whose nominations are confirmed today must bring additional value on board. If they don’t have value to bring, their nominations and confirmations would then be in vain,” he said.