BREAKING NEWS: AMAECHI MAY NOT BE SCREEN BY SENATE

Hope of the embattled for­mer Governor of Rivers, Chi­buike Amaechi, appearing before the Senate, as other ministerial nominees, has fur­ther dimmed, as the Commit­tee on Ethics and Public Peti­tion may have recommended a stay of action on his screening. This has, however, split the Senate.
Daily Sun gathered that the committee, which will for­mally submit its report to the Senate tomorrow, made the recommendation based on the complexity of Amaechi’s case.
A member of the commit­tee headed by Senator Sam­uel Anyanwu, revealed that members took cognizance of the white paper submitted to it by the current Rivers State government, which indicted Amaechi. In addition to that, he said the committee looked into the merits and demerits of other petitions against the for­mer Rivers governor.
“We made some recommen­dations on the case and that of other nominees. We felt that there should be a stay of action on the screening until some is­sues are addressed,” the source said.
Apparently sensing the outcome of the committee’s investigation, Amaechi, last week, wrote the leadership of the Senate advising it to dis­countenance the White Paper indicting him, arguing that it lacked the force of law.
Amaechi claimed that he was innocent of the allegations of corruption for which he had been indicted by the Judicial Commission of Inquiry chaired by Justice G.O. Omereji.
The letter, signed by his counsel, Edward Pepple and dated October 12, 2015, fur­ther stated that the Supreme Court had emphasised in a case involving former Vice President Atiku Abubakar “that an indictment by judi­cial commission of inquiry or administrative panel is not an ‘indictment’ was not sufficient for the purpose of preventing a person from holding a public office.”
The letter added: “Section 182(1)(i) only enables a ju­dicial commission of inquiry or administrative tribunal to determine the culpability of a citizen, where it is alleged that such citizen has been in breach of standards of behaviour ex­pected in public life.
“Where such inquiry finds a citizen liable or culpable of a conduct bordering on crimi­nality and the federal or state government accepts such a re­port through a published white paper, it is still not enough to deny a citizen eligibility to the office of governor unless and until he is afterwards prosecut­ed in a court of law and found guilty.
“Mr. President, we have no doubt that the Senate being an arm of government established under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria verily appreciates the general principle of the rule of law, hence the invitation extended to our client to respond to the petition.”
However, the chairman of Senate Committee on Ethics and Public Petition, Senator Anyanwu, refused to confirm or dismiss claims that his com­mittee has recommended a stay of action on the screening of Amaechi.
Speaking with Daily Sun, he insisted that the public would know his committee’s deci­sion on the matter and other petitions tomorrow when the plenary resumes.
He also spoke on the peti­tion against the nominee from Sokoto State, Aisha Abubakar. He said the nominee has been invited and would face the committee today to respond to the allegations levied against her nomination.
“Why are you people al­ways interested in Amaechi’s case? There are other petitions before the committee. We have other ministerial nominees that have been written peti­tions against. All the petitions will be submitted on Tuesday. That is all I can tell you. We are meeting tomorrow (today) to conclude on the final report.
“I am sure that by Tues­day, it will be ready. I cannot tell you what we are going to submit to the Senate. There is nothing I can tell you. By Tuesday, you will hear about the report when it will be pre­sented to the Senate. We ought to have finalised the issue by the weekend. But I travelled to my state. I just came back today (yesterday). Everything will be handled all together. We have invited the nominee from Sokoto state. She will appear before the committee tomorrow (today). Her own report will be ready too by Tuesday,” Anyanwu said.
Meanwhile, lobby for the screening of Amaechi was stepped up at the weekend with one of the All Progres­sives Congress (APC) gover­nors from the North leading the campaign. The lobbyists, who are close ally of President Muhammadu Buhari, are said to have impressed it on the senators that refusal to screen and confirm Amaechi by lead­ership of the Senate will be viewed as sabotage.
Sources revealed that the group has been lobbying sena­tors to support the screening of Amaechi, leading to senators being divided.
The Senate will tomor­row begin the screening of the remaining 18 ministe­rial nominees, the majority of which were in the second list President Buhari sent. Those to be screened are: Khadija Bukar Abba Ibrahim, Claudius Omoleye Daramola, Anthony Anwuka, Geoffrey Onyeama, Brig-Gen MM Dan-Ali, James Ocholi and Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, Okechukwu Enela­mah, Muhammadu Bello, Mu­stapha Baba Shehuri, Aisha Abubakar, Heineken Lokpo­biri, Adamau Adamu, Isaac Adewole, Usani Usani Uguru and Abubakar Bwari Bawa.