… .Announces Senate Standing Committees
SENATE President, Bukola Saraki, on Wednesday revealed the rundown of directors and bad habit administrators of 65 standing advisory groups. In a clear move to further solidify his hold on the Senate, Saraki may have strolled through the overly complex interests tormenting the upper council of the national Assembly to think of names which got a minority resistance from previous Senate President, David Mark.
Senate President Bukola Saraki listening to Alh Lai Mohammed
Saraki had before set up a sum of five extraordinary boards of trustees including, Rules and Business with Senator Babjjide Omoworare as Chairman, Senate Services with Senator Ibrahim Gobir as Chairman, and Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions with Senator Samuel Anyanwu as Chairman.
The Public Accounts Committee has Senator Andy Uba as Chairman while Senator Shaaba Lafiagi heads the National Security and Intelligence Committee.
Given what is viewed as the unpredictable way of authority of the advisory groups, a careful Saraki had before divulging the rundown, set out on an unpretentious crusade, begging his associates to cooperate even as he cautioned that that the quality of their oversight capacities will contribute enormously to the achievement of the present organization throughout the following four years.
The People's Democratic Party (PDP) Senators had prior made plans to push for adherence to Rule 3(2.iv) of the Senate Standings Orders 2015 as changed which stresses the country's geo-political spread in allotment of advisory groups.
As per the procurement, "the arrangement of Senators as Chairmen and individuals from councils should be did in such a way to mirror the six geo-political zones of the nation and there might be no transcendence of Senators from a couple geo-political zones"
A breakdown of the rundown demonstrates that the North-Central has 13 administrators of advisory groups including Saraki who likewise seats the Committee on Selection, the North-East has 11 executives of councils, North-West and South-West have 11 every while South-East and South-South has 10 directors each.
There are 41 councils being led by Senators from the lion's share All Progressives Congress (APC) while the PDP has 24 Senators leading different advisory groups. A percentage of the PDP Senators likewise seat a portion of the purported succulent which incorporate the Public Accounts Committee with Andy Uba as Chairman, Duro Samuel Faseyi (Public Accounts), Uche Ekwunife (Air Force), John Owan Enoh (Finance), George Sekibo (Interior), Ben Murray Bruce (Privatization), and Olaka Johnson Nwogu (Environment), among others.
A percentage of the new and non-positioning Senators likewise got chairmanship and bad habit chairmanship positions of advisory groups while others will serve in some different boards of trustees in accordance with segment 95 (1) which stipulates that participation of all councils should not be under nine and not more than 13 Senators with a Senator not serving in more than three panels and no council administrator might serve in more than two different councils.
All in all, the rundown reflects 68 for every penny for the APC and 49 percent for the PDP while individuals from the Unity Group accepted to be hostile to Saraki head a portion of the councils with Senator Ahmed Lawan in Defense, Senator George Akume (Army), Adamu Abdullahi (Agriculture), Barnabas Gemade ( Housing), Oluremi Tinubu (Women Affairs), Olugbenga Ashafa (Land Transport), Bayero Nafada (Inter-Parliamentary Affairs), Abu Ibrahim (Police Affairs), Kabir Marafa, (National Identity and National Population), Rabiu Kwankaso (National Planning and Economic Affairs), among others.
It is trusted that Saraki expanded the quantity of boards of trustees from 57 to 65 to suit his supporters and the individuals who battled him. Some of them were remunerated with chairmanship positions like the previous legislative head of Gombe State, Senator Danjuma Goje, who got the chairmanship position of the Appropriation Committee, Dino Melaye (FCT), Shaaba Lafiagi (National Security and knowledge), Andy Uba (Public Accounts) and Rafiu Adebayo (Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions), among others.
Before the development of Saraki as President of the Senate on June 9, two gatherings had risen, one was Senators of Like Minds which was genius Saraki and the other gathering and the master Ahmed Lawan bunch, Senators Unity Forum (SUF). Lawan had demonstrated enthusiasm for the position of Senate President and he was the competitor of the APC.
In what has all the earmarks of being a move to mollify his apparent rivals, the Ahmed Lawan gathering got 13 chairmanship positions including those of Defense, Police Affairs, National Planning, Housing and Women Affairs.
Administrators of the advisory groups are, Matthew Uroghide (Culture and Tourism), Sam Egwu (Industry), David Umaru (Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters), Salihu Hussein Egye (Federal Character and Inter-Governmental Affairs), Lanre Tejousho (Health), Abubakar Kyari (INEC), Bayero Usman Nafada (Inter-Parliamentary Affairs), Shehu Sani (Local and Foreign Debts), Isiaka Adeleke (Capital Market), Rose Oko ( Diaspora and Civil Societies),
Buka Abba Ibrahim (Ecology and Climate Change), Munsurat Sunmonu (Foreign Affairs), Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi (Media and Public Affairs), Buhari Abdulfatai (ICT and Cybercrime), Abdulsalami Ohiare (Public Procurement), Mao Ohuabunwa (Primary Health Care and Communicable Diseases), Joshua Dariye (Solid Minerals), Murtala Nyako (Special Duties), Abdullahi Gumel (States and Local Governments), Obinna Joseph Ogba (Health), Binta Masi Garba (Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND), Donald Omotayo Alaosaodura (Upstream Petroleum), Mohammed Ubali Shittu (Water Resources) and Ali Wakili (Poverty Alleviation and Social Welfare).
Representatives Hope Uzodinma, Gibert Nnaji and Robert Ajayi Boroffice held the chairmanship positions of Aviation, Communications and Science and Technology separately which they possessed amid the seventh Senate.
Clearly because of the procurement of Section 95 (4) which stipulates that no individual from the Committee of Selection might be a Committee Chairman, chief officers got bad habit chairmanship positions. They are, Bala Ibn Na'allah, Vice Chairman, Committee on Ethics and Privileges and Aviation, Francis Alimikhena is Vice Chairman, Housing, Godswill Akpbabio, Vice Chairman, Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Emmanuel Bwacha is Vice Chairman, Committee on Water Resources, Philip Aduda, Vice Chairman, Land Transport and Olusola Adeyeye, Vice Chairman, Primary Health Care and Communicable Diseases.
Wirth Lawan, Kwakwanso, Oluremi Tinubu, Abu Ibrahim, Abdulahi Adamu, Gbenga Ashafa, Kabiru Marafa, Shehu Sani, heading different advisory groups, and Senators Mustapha Bukar; Umaru ibrahim Kurfi, Suleiman Hunkuyi (APC, Kaduna North) , among others, as bad habit Chairmen of a percentage of the boards, is it likely that the Unity Group will now let bygones be bygones and settle down for genuine administrative business? The behavior and procedures on the floor of the Senate amid its consequent sittings will tell.