Ministerial list beyond Senate control, says spokesperson

The apprehension over the delay to submit the ministerial list to the Senate for consideration and approval continued on Thursday.

Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Adedayo Adeyeye, who spoke on the growing anxiety, insisted that the Senate lacked the constitutional power to generate the ministerial list.

Adeyeye also said that President Muhammadu Buhari was yet to transmit the ministerial list to the Senate.

Briefing reporters in Abuja after plenary, the Senate spokesperson noted that senators were as anxious as other Nigerians to receive the list.

He said that senators were determined to work on the ministerial nominee list whenever it was transmitted to them.

He noted that the Senate was handicapped to do anything since it was not in a position to generate the list for consideration.

Adeyeye noted that it was the prerogative of Mr. President to nominate and present those that would be in his cabinet.

Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, had on Wednesday assured that President Muhammadu Buhari was working round the clock to ensure that the list of ministerial nominees was transmitted to the Senate before the end of the week.

Adeyeye, however, noted that even with the assurance of the Senate President, the upper chamber cannot generate the list.

Adeyeye said: “We cannot keep the list, if the list is transmitted to the President of the Senate, it will be read immediately. We are too eager like I have told you we want to hit the ground running.

“This is an activity that is not within our control and there is nothing we can do about it. Like I said here two or three days ago, this matter is not within the control of the Senate.

“We cannot generate the list on our own. The constitution does not permit us to do that. The constitution has assigned responsibility to various part of government and it is the prerogative of the executive to nominate ministers which will then be confirmed by the Senate.

“Until that duty is undertaken by the executive there is nothing we can do about that. Whether we are hopeful or not is neither here nor there.”