Ministerial Screening: Ex-Governors Turned Senators Rally Support For Amaechi

Rotimi AmaechiIndications emerged on Wednesday that Senate PresidentĀ Bukola Saraki and 12 other senators may have resolved to ensure that former Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, scales screening and is confirmed as cabinet minister.

Amaechiā€™s nomination as a minister by President Muhammadu Buhari elicited strong objections from the three Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senators representing Rivers State and they have vowed to stop his confirmation.

According to The NATION, Saraki andĀ former governors in the Senate have vowed to save one of their own from humiliation.

Amaechi was Sarakiā€™s deputy in the Nigeria Governors Forum and both were part of the defunct New PDP members that defected to the All Progressives Congress in 2013.

Besides Saraki, other ex-governors set to ensure Amaechi gets a smooth sail during the screening process are Godswill Akpabio, Sam Egwu, Theodore Orji, Joshua Dariye, Danjuma Goje and Rabiu Kwankwaso.

Others are Senators Jonah Jang, George Akume, Bukar Abba Ibrahim, Ahmad Sani, Aliyu Wamakko, Adamu Aliero and Isiaka Adeleke.

It was learnt that the senators, who cut across party lines, may have started reaching out to their colleagues to garner enough support for Amaechi.

It was also revealed that while Saraki will be rallying All Progressives Congress (APC) senators, Akpabio who is the Minority Leader will be reaching out to PDP senators.

An aide to one of the senators, who spoke to the newspaper on condition of anonymity shortly after plenary session on Wednesday, confirmed the senatorsā€™ position.

The aide said: ā€œI can confirm to you that all the senators who were governors have decided to rally support for Amaechi to ensure his confirmation. As a matter of fact, they have picked two among themselves as contact persons.

ā€œTheir position is that somebody who is qualified enough to be governor should also be good enough to be minister. The ex-governors are also of the view that humiliation of one of them is humiliation of allā€.

1 COMMENT

  1. I was thoroughly disappointed by Sekibo and other Rivers PDP senators, attempting to turn our nation’s senate into a kangaroo body by bringing a barefaced local fratricidal war to the exalted house. We here in Rivers state saw what happened April 11 which they called ‘election’.
    Its d same Amaechi that won accolades over and over as best performing gov and who gave to PH etc d new face it has today. And these crying “crucify him” were d grand operators of d regime till P-Baby became d cog in d wheel of governance leading to d parting of ways in 2013.
    No mature senator should buy their gimmick. Childish ‘senating’ indeed.