The failure of the Senate to officially communicate to the Presidency the confirmation of the 36 ministerial nominees earlier forwarded to it, has been identified as what is delaying the inauguration of the new Federal Executive Council.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Ita Enang, as well as his counterpart in the Media and Publicity office, Malam Garba Shehu, disclosed this to The Punch yesterday.
While explaining that the Senate was yet to communicate to the Presidency on the confirmation because doing so would require a Senate plenary, Enang stated that, “The communication cannot be done until when the senators in plenary approve the votes and proceedings of the decision taken at the last week’s sitting of the Senate.”
On his part, Shehu, who is the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, told the newspaper that Buhari had yet to receive any communication on the nominees from the Senate.
He further confirmed that the President would wait for a letter from the Senate conveying to him the confirmation of his nominees before swearing in the ministers.
While expressing hopes that the confirmation would be communicated to the President this week, Shehu said, “As I am talking to you now, the President is yet to receive any message from the Senate that the ministerial nominees have been cleared.
“Maybe the Senate will do this when it resumes this week but it has not done so yet.
“It is only when that is done that the President can go ahead to swear in the nominees to become members of the Federal Executive Council,” the presidential spokesman stated.
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