Voice of Nigeria: The Presidency says the controversy between the Executive and Legislative arms of government will soon be resolved.
According to the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the alleged remarks made by the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, about the screening of nominees by the Senate, were misconstrued but steps are already being taken to resolve the matter amicably.
Speaking to Voice of Nigeria in an exclusive interview, Garba Shehu said the alleged remark about the screening of nominees for appointments did not originate from the Acting President. Our understanding is that some remarks made by the Acting President some months ago when he was the Vice President, because the President was around at that time, an opinion he gave, is being misconstrued.
A senior lawyer in the country offered an opinion, in which he said some categories of public officers traditionally cleared by the National Assembly need not to go through that process; that those ones can be appointed by the Presidential fiat; they don’t have to go through screening. But several months ago, in his position as Vice President, Professor Osinbajo gave a personal opinion saying what this lawyer said makes sense,” Garba Shehu explained.
He said the government or its cabinet has not taken any decision on such an issue.
“There is no official position by the government of Nigeria and the Federal Executive Council never sat down to take a decision to say that some categories of officials will not be sent to the National Assembly any longer or that the authority of the Senate under the constitution to screen and pass nominees has never been questioned by the government or the Federal Executive Council,” he said.
According to the Presidential Spokesman, in compliance with the provisions of the law, the Executive arm has been sending the names of its nominees to the National Assembly for screening and it will continue to do so.
He said all parties involved in the matter will soon meet to thrash out the matter.
“From the time the Vice President gave that opinion to now, more than twenty nominations have been forwarded to the Senate and quite a number of them have been screened, sworn-in and are now occupying positions. So therefore, this is not a big issue as some people want to make it. The party, government and the National Assembly will sit on a round table and this matter will be discussed and resolved. I assure you,” he stated.
The Senate had on Tuesday resolved not to screen government nominees until the Acting President addressed remarks he allegedly made, which the Senate claimed undermined the authority of the legislature.
