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| Musiliu Obanikoro was former minister of state for defence |
In spite of fierce opposition from lawmakers of
the All Progressives Congress (APC), the senate on Wednesday screened Musiliu
Obanikoro for a ministerial position.
He was asked to take the
customary “bow and go” – a preferential treatment for former senators –
effectively confirming him as a minister.
TheCable reports:
APC senators from
Lagos state, represented by Ganiyu Solomon (Lagos west), spoke against the
confirmation of Obanikoro on the grounds that he was “implicated” in the
alleged rigging of the Ekiti election in June 2014.
Solomon pointed out that
the senate had confirmed Obanikoro before but “things had since changed.”
He urged the senate to
defer the screening and confirmation of Obanikoro “until justice has been done
to the issue at hand”.
However, David Mark,
senate president, over-ruled the request, putting the confirmation of Obanikoro
to a voice vote.
The majority carried the
day as Obanikoro was confirmed as minister.
Gbenga Ashafa, the
senator representing Lagos east, had first raised a point of order challenging
the attempt to screen Obanikoro.
Ashafa, who said
Obanikoro has a pending case in court, brought out a copy of The Nation
Newspaper to butress his point.
He further said Mark and
the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were joined in the suit.
But Mark ruled him out of
order, saying the court was yet to serve him in that regard.
“You don’t serve me on
the pages of the newspaper. As far as I am concerned, there is no case in
court, so I rule you out of order,” Mark said.
The first attempt at
screening last week had ended in chaos.
Speaking to journalists
at the national assembly complex, APC senators led by George Akume, senate
minority leader, expressed dissatisfaction with the decision of the senate.
He stated that the
confirmation of Obanikoro after the rejection of his nomination by senators
from Lagos state was worrisome and tantamount to neglecting the minority.
He added that APC
senators remained opposed to the confirmation of Obanikoro and would continue
to call for his rejection.
Also speaking,
Chris Ngige (Anambra central) said that the confirmation of the former minister
of state for defence was prejudicial as there is already a case in court over
the matter.
“Only the court
can now undo what the senate has done,” he said.
Obanikoro, former
minister of state for defence, resigned his position last year
to seek the Lagos governorship ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but
lost to Jimi Agbaje.
He was renominated as
minister by President Goodluck Jonathan.
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