Senate draws battle line with Buhari

The senate yesterday gave President Muhammadu Buhari the marching order to relieve the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Magu of his job.

The sabre-rattling Senators vowed not to consider or confirm the 27 names of Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs), if Buhari failed to respect the outcome of their decision to sack the anti-graft boss.
To prove that it is prepared to walk its talk, the Red Chamber announced the suspension of confirmatory hearing on the REC nominees for two weeks to enable the senate president, Dr. Bukola Saraki “discuss” with the executive.

Buhari had forwarded the list of REC nominees to the Red Chamber last week for confirmation.
For the second time, Magu was rejected two weeks ago by the Senate on account of a damning report from the Department of State Services (DSS).
At plenary yesterday, the Senators said it was wrong of Buhari to continue to keep Magu in an acting capacity, despite their resolution that he should be outrightly replaced.
But the presidency reacted yesterday through Senator Ita Enang, the president’s Special Adviser on National Assembly Matters, saying it would respect the decision of the lawmakers and toe the path of dialogue.

“We will not question the power of the senators to take decision on how they want to conduct nomination hearings. We will not go fighting with them,” Enang told an online medium.
But he declined to say if the president would replace Magu, saying he will “not go into specifics.”

-Sun News