The ministerial screening of former Rivers State Governor, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi Thursday ended peacefully after some serious initial controversy.
It will be recalled that the PDP Senators said its caucus had agreed not to ask Amaechi questions throughout the screening. The development followed a point of order by the Senate minority leader, Senator Goodswill Akpabio.
According to Akpabio, the PDP Senators took the decision because the allegation of corruption against the nominee was still pending in court. The statement which resulted into an uproar was partially resolved after Akpabio retracted it, which was reiterated by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki.
However, Amaechi who was decked in Ijaw attire was not moved by the controversy as he made references to Senators from Rivers State who are against his nomination. He intermittently pointed out his relationship with the Senators on different capacities.
Amaechi who was accompanied by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly (Senate) Ita Enang as well as former Speaker, House of Representatives, Ghali Umar Na’aba and other formers legislators from Rivers State while speaking on his pedigree, said that he achieved so much when he served in various capacities as Speaker, Rivers State House of Assembly, chairman, Nigeria governor’s forum as well as governor of Rivers State for eight years, assuring that if he is considered a minister, he would bring his experience to begin.
Amaechi who emphasized he was incorruptible said, “I have never taken bribe in my life,” disclosing that “Corruption is a very broad concept. It is difficult for me to define corruption. Corruption is not all about giving bribes, if many persons are looking for a particular job and you give such a job to your sister when there are other qualified applicants, such act is corruption.”
Amaechi, who brought out a copy of the white paper containing the report of the Panel of Inquiry instituted by the Rivers State government against his government , declared that there is nowhere in the report where he was indicted.
Disclosing that, “I have the full report here and there is no place in it where I was ‘indicted’ for corruption,” he said: “If the senate president permits me, I’ll lay the full report before the senate.”
He revealed that the Nigeria Governors Forum, NGF, which he chaired at some point, was formed to check executive recklessness, revealing that, “the radical nature of the governors’ forum made the former president to tell me that I have turned the governors’ forum into a trade union.”
In the course of his screening, he declared that, “we must diversify the economy. We need to invest heavily in education. We must improve on the social welfare of the people. If we do this, there will be peace.”
Amaechi, after being drilled for over fifty minutes was asked to take a bow.
It’s yet to be known whether the Senate will unanimously confirm the former Governor as a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, or the opposition will resist his confirmation.
Daily Post
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