There are strong indications that ministerial nominees, whose names were sent to the Senate on Wednesday, have started reaching out to senators ahead of their screening by the upper chamber.
Our correspondent learnt on Saturday that some of the nominees, including former governors, had sought the support of the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki and other senators.
It was gathered that the nominees were wary of the hard stand senators could take against them during the screening that would start this week.
It was learnt that they have been pleading for soft landing during the screening, which the Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, had confirmed would start on Wednesday.
A senator from the North Central, who craved anonymity, said he was aware that some nominees had reached out the senate president and other members of the upper chamber.
The senator, who declined to name those who had reached out to him, said he did not think that his colleagues would give any nominees a tough time during screening.
On the alleged plot by some senators from the Peoples Democratic Party controlled states of Ekiti and Rivers to kick against the clearance of the ministerial nominees from their states whose names had been published in the media, the senator said that would be handled by the senate leadership.
He said, “Don’t forget that several precedents on similar issues had been set by the Seventh Senate when the then Senate President, David Mark, ignored protests by senators from Lagos, and Osun, against the nomination of two ministerial nominees and went ahead to clear them.”
Another senator from the North-East geopolitical zone, also confirmed to our correspondent on condition of anonymity that there were moves by the senate leadership to settle the face-off between it and the Presidency with the clearance of ministerial nominees.
He said, “Definitely we have to move the nation forward. If the President is saying that these are the people that I have picked, after a painstaking process, who could work with me, why should we deliberately constitute ourselves as stumbling blocks?
“Although some of them may have issues with their stewardship while they held sway as governors, the question is, is anyone among them being investigated by any anti – graft agency?
“Nobody is a saint. I am not one either. The senate president had appealed to us that we should jettison politics of vendetta in the screening of the ministerial nominees and I am prepared to heed his advice.
“Personally I will play my part by asking relevant questions and responses to them would make Nigerians know that we are not clearing the wrong persons at the end of the exercise”
Source: The Punch
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