The comment came in reaction to the decision of the upper legislative chamber to suspend consideration of his nominees for Resident Electoral Commissioners in protest against Ibrahim Magu’s continued stay in office as the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The senators had declined to confirm Mr. Magu as substantive chairman of the anti-graft office after two requests by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The president sent a list of 27 nominees to the Senate last week.
The senators also protested alleged disrespect of the National Assembly by appointees of the president.
The Senate has been locked in prolonged supremacy battle with the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, and Comptroller-General of Customs, Hameed Ali.
Mr. Lawal and Mr. Ali declined separate summons of the Senate last week, over issues bordering on alleged corruption and non-compliance official dress code, respectively.
But speaking in response to the lawmakers, President Buhari’s Senate liaison officer, Ita Enang, said the administration will respect the decision of the lawmakers and pursue dialogue with them.
“We will not question the power of the senators to take decision on how they want to conduct nomination hearings,” Mr. Enang told newsmen by telephone Tuesday afternoon. “We will not go fighting with them”.
Instead, “we will listen to their grievances and reason along with them,” Mr. Enang said shortly after the Senate took the decision to protest Mr. Magu’s continued stay in office.
He declined to say if the president will now ask Mr. Magu to step aside, saying he will “not go into specifics.”
Shortly after rejecting Mr. Magu penultimate Wednesday, the senators urged the president to relieve the EFCC chief of his job and name a temporary replacement pending fresh nomination of a substantive chairman.
Today’s development marked the second time in recent months that the Senate would move to force the hands of the executive on national issues.
In November 2016, the senators threatened to boycott plenary to protest a prolonged delay in conducting re-run elections in Rivers State.
The Independent National Electoral Commission swiftly announced dates for the elections, which held the following month. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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The question is, does Sagay know about these cases? Are Ali and Lawal superior to the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria? Again, the President has kept mum!
ReplyDeleteIf it's so for Ali and Bachiry Do. Lawal what of those senator's who have messive curruption allegations against them. Just forget curruption fighting back
ReplyDeleteTo me Hammed Alli is too adamant you propagated a policy that will added more suffering to the people of Nigeria and you are asked to come and explain yourself by convenience the nation why the ends users will have to pay for the import duties and you refuse to show up because of management meeting that can extend and honored the Senate but instead he granted a press statement and said there is no going back in adding more pain to the masses, imagine with recession a lone people are committing suicide every day not talk of a pensioner that is leaving on the pin nut to come and pay up to N300,000 to N600,000 for the fear that custom will impand his/her car Isn't that not enough for his to be sack, where everyone is cursing Buhar as if he is the one embezzled or looted the Treasury
ReplyDeleteThe fear of Magu is the beginning of wisdom. They wanted the man out not bc they love Nigeria but bc Magu has too many evidences to send many out of circulation for years. If the Senate insists that he must go at all cost, so let it be. He should give a replacement that can even bite harder than Magu. Many of the senators, especially the leadership, lack the integrity to remain in house.
ReplyDelete