• As Adamu’s absence stalls APC’s decision on NASS principal officers’ positions
From Fred Itua, Abuja
Almost three weeks after it embarked on its post-inauguration break, the Senate is set to resume, ahead of the official transmission of names of ministerial nominees by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
According to a new amendment to the 1999 Constitution, the president and governors must submit the names of persons nominated as ministers or commissioners within 60 days of taking the oath of office for confirmation by the Senate or state House of Assembly.
This means that Tinubu and all the governors must submit lists of nominees for ministers and commissioners before the end of July.
With less than four weeks left before the expiration of the new constitutional mandate, President Tinubu is expected to forward names of ministerial-nominees to the Senate for confirmation anytime.
Daily Sun gathered that the Department of State (DSS) is rounding off the background checks on the ministerial nominees and the necessary security screening, before their names are formally forwarded to the Senate for confirmation.
The exercise by the DSS, based on President Tinubu’s instruction, is to avoid a repeat of embarrassing moments experienced during the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, whose ministers were either accused of certificate forgery or caught in other misdemeanours.
Though the identities of the nominees are still shrouded in secrecy, there are insinuations that the ministers would be drawn from the public and private sectors as well as politicians who played key roles in the emergence of Tinubu as president.
The Senate, headed by Godswill Akpabio, is expected to dedicate at least one week to perform the screening exercise. Former senators and members of the House of Representatives would not be grilled but asked to take a bow and go. For others, question ranging from economy to security, education to healthcare, would be asked.
Since there is no constitutional provision, portfolios of the nominees would not be attached to their curriculum vitae.
Meanwhile, the long absence of the National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Adamu, and the refusal by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party to hold its weekly meeting have stalled the nomination of principal officers of the National Assembly.
The NWC has not held its weekly meeting since the 10th National Assembly was inaugurated on June 13 via a proclamation letter by President Tinubu.
Similarly, the long absence of the Adamu from the party’s national secretariat, sources said, was also responsible for the non-official position on the issue.
Adamu, it was learnt, returned from Saudi Arabia last weekend, where he performed his spiritual exercise.
Prior to his hajj journey, he had not been seen in the premises of the national secretariat of the APC.
There are eight positions up for grabs in the National Assembly and they are expected to be shared evenly across the six geopolitical zones. Four positions in the Senate and four in the House of Representatives.
In the upper chamber, the battle for the position of Senate leader is between Mohammed Ali Ndume from Borno State and Opeyemi Bamidele from Ekiti State.
Ndume was the director general of Akpabio Campaign Council during the campaigns for the position of the Senate president while Bamidele served as his deputy.
While Ndume has served as Senate leader, minority leader of the House of Representatives while Bamidele has only served as chairman of a committee.
There are also agitations by senators from the North that the next Senate leader should emerge from there in order to address rising concerns about marginalisation.
However, South West caucus is unwilling to let go of the coveted position despite assurances that the appropriation committee chairman would be picked from the geopolitical zone.
As part of moves to douse the growing tension, Akpabio on Saturday in Keffi, Nasarawa State, met with Adamu.
Though there was no official statement, people privy to the details of the meeting revealed that Akpabio and the national chairman spoke extensively on the issue of principal officers.
National Publicity Secretary of APC, Felix Morka, could not be reached on phone to clarify when a decision would be taken by NWC on the issue. His only known phone number was unreachable as at the time of filing in this report.