legislature has concluded plans to block
confirmation of nominees sent to it by President
Muhammadu Buhari.
This, the report says, is part of the lawmakers’
strategies for a showdown with the Presidency.
Senate believes that only a judicial interpretation of President
Buhari's powers can stop the conflict over Magu's retention.
It was gathered on Sunday, April 30 that the
Senate chose this line of action after Vice
President Yemi Osinbajo, a professor of law,
backed human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN)
that Section 171 of the Constitution empowers
the President to make some appointments
without the approval of the National Assembly.
The Punch quotes an anonymous source in the
leadership of the Senate as saying that the
legislature and the executive have conflicting
interpretation of the Constitution on their powers
and responsibilities.
The embargo on appointments would now be
placed until an intervention by the judiciary is
achieved.
According to the source, the executive should go
to court and not the legislature to get an
interpretation of its powers.
The National Assembly source said on Sunday:
“There is going to be a constitutional crisis in Nigeria
because the Senate is now at a crossroads on what to do
with the nominations made by the President for which he is
seeking the confirmation by the Senate.
“Going by what Osinbajo said on Magu, it means that the
nation’s Presidents from 1999, who sent nominations to the
Senate for confirmation, had all breached the Constitution.
Even Buhari, who has been sending nominations to the
Senate, was not properly advised.”
The source added: “They may not (be considered,
including those of the CBN, NERC and others just sent to the
Senate, because of the claims made by the Vice-President.
He spoke as if he was speaking the mind of the President.
“They (Presidency) should proceed to court to seek
endorsement for their position. It is their business to go to
the court, not the Senate’s. The Vice President has already
stalled the nomination and confirmation processes by his
unguarded statements.
“He somehow agreed with Falana that there is no need for
legislative confirmation for the appointments. With the
Section 171 claim by the Vice-President, the Senate is now
at a crossroads on whether to go on with the confirmation
(of appointments) or adopt the new claim by the Presidency.
“The National Assembly follows established laws, which
have been used for all dealings with the other arms of
government. If they now have a contrary view, they should
go to court.”
The Punch however reports that the move by the
Senate is not a widely accepted one as some
lawmakers are against it.
A All Progressives Congress member of the upper
house said the move would only make the Senate
even more unpopular following series of recent
actions that have received massive backlash.
The lawmaker said: “ Between you and I, that is
rubbish. The issue of Magu is rubbish; the issue of (the
Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service) Hameed
Ali is rubbish.
“If some of us insist on Magu’s removal and Ali should
appear before the Senate in uniform, how does that put food
on the table of Nigerians? And we are supposed to focus on
what can improve the life of the average Nigerians; we are
not doing that. But we are busy with Ali, Magu and other
issues. It is so unfortunate.”
Vice-Chairman of Senate Committee on Media
and Public Affairs Senator Ben Murray-Bruce
hinted that plans are afoot to deal with the
matter of conflict between the presidency and
Senate.
This, he said, would be addressed on Tuesday,
May 2.
He said: “ By Tuesday, Senator Sabi (Abdullahi) will speak
on the issue as reflected by the joint decision of the Senate.
Nobody can take any individual position (on the matter);
the Senate will take the position.
“Sabi will take that position because I have not gotten any
official communication from the Senate and I don’t have
any opinion (on the matter).”
NAIJ.com had earlier reported weeks back that
following EFCC acting chairman Ibrahim Magu’s
saga, the Nigerian Senate was considering taking
the matter of confirmation of President
Muhammadu Buhari’s appointees to the Supreme
Court .
The Senate had been concerned about
submissions by legal luminaries like Femi Falana
and others that President Buhari’s appointments
were not subject to confirmation by the
legislature.
Particularly worrisome to lawmakers in the
upper house of legislature are the contents of
section 171 of the constitution which the legal
commentators use to buttress claims that Magu
does not need the Senate’s confirmation.
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