The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, on Tuesday prevented the Senate from rejecting the list of 46 non-career ambassadorial nominees sent to the Senate last week.
Senate Leader, Ndume had moved a motion that the Senate should consider President Buhari’s request to confirm the nominees.
When Saraki put the request to a voice vote, there was a loud shout of ‘Nay’.
The Senate President announced that he was going to repeat the question and when he did, senators re-echoed the same ‘nay’.
Saraki paused for about 10 seconds, and hit the gavel and returned a positive verdict.
There was however no protest against the Senate President’s ruling.
It was however gathered that President Buhari’s refusal to address the lopsided appointments in the career ambassadorial list sent to the Senate in July, necessitated the attempted rejection of the non-career list.
In July, shortly before lawmakers embarked on their annual recess, President Buhari forwarded names of 47 career ambassadorial nominees to the Senate for confirmation.
The list was greeted with criticisms and outcry from Senators who protested the exclusion of their states from the list. Though the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs has concluded the screening exercise, the final report has not been laid on the floor for debate.
In the new list, Imo state and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have again been omitted. It is uncertain if the issues raised will be addressed by President Buhari before it will be debated.
