If Acting President Yemi Osinbajo does not withdraw comments credited to him that the Senate does not have powers to confirm some categories of office holders, then he should forget sending nominees to Senate for confirmation, the lawmakers have ruled.
Signalling a fresh disagreement with the Law professor, Tuesday, Nigeria’s 109 senior citizens suspended confirmation of all Executive nominations until resolutions of the National Assembly regarding appointees are respected by the Presidency.
Prof. Osinbajo had sent in a letter asking for the confirmation of Mr. Lanre Gbajabiamila as head of the country’s Lottery Commission.
A Point of Order raised by Ahmed Sani (APC, Zamfara State) triggered the new face-off, though it appears that the lawmakers had been waiting for an auspicious time to square off with Acting President Osinbajo after a statement he made early in the year that the Senate was not required to confirm Ibrahim Magu as chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Emotions ran so high that a Senator hinted at impeachment proceedings against the Acting President who also recently took a side swipe at the National Assembly over the budget he signed into law.
The Senate resolved Tuesday that “The Acting President must respect the constitution and laws as it relates to confirmation of appointments.
“The Acting President should withdraw the statement credited to him that the Senate does not have the power to confirm certain nominees”.
.Earlier, Senate President Bukola Saraki, said: “As a society, we can’t pass laws and see these laws are not being obeyed. It is very clear these resolutions as passed must be acted upon by the Acting President and ensure that we continue to respect our democracy, our laws and constitution.
“It is not for us to chose which laws we obey and which laws we don’t obey. That is not the way any civilised, modern society work.
“We hope that the Acting President will take appropriate action in line with these resolutions”.