Ahead of next week’s screening of ministerial nominees by the Senate, senators elected on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, have vowed to stall the exercise.
The senators, who held a meeting behind closed doors in Senate Hearing Room 1, was to, among others, consider the criteria set by the Senate for the confirmation of ministerial nominees sent by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Though the senators refused to brief newsmen at the end of the one hour meeting, sources said the senators resolved to reject what they described as partial and piecemeal presentation of the list of ministerial nominees.
A source told Vanguard at the end of the meeting that the PDP senators were not comfortable with the partial submission of ministerial nominees, an indication that President Muhammadu Buhari was earlier not ready to get a minister from each state.
According to the source, PDP senators have warned that the present nominees must not be cleared until the President forwards the remaining list.
It was gathered that the PDP senators had decided to hold down the screening process unless Buhari sent the full ministerial list by Tuesday.
According to a source, the senators also resolved to send a message to the President through Senate President, Bukola Saraki, It was also gathered that the senators would be prepared to stall the screening process on Tuesday if the President of the Senate failed to read the remaining list of ministerial nominees at the start of sitting on Tuesday.
The source said: “The senators of the PDP are united and they have taken a stand on the ministerial screening. After adopting the procedures already ratified at the executive session of all the senators, the PDP caucus resolved to also demand a full list of ministerial nominees by Tuesday; else they will have no other option than to hold down the process.
“The senators are of the view that the nation, having waited for four months, cannot continue to wait in perpetuity for the full list of ministerial nominees.”
