Sen. Philip Aduda, (PDP-FCT), has presented a petition to the Senate on behalf his constituents in the Federal Capital Territory over non-inclusion of a ministerial nominee from the territory.
Aduda said that he had on July 24 drawn the attention of the Senate to the development by raising the issue in Order 43 of the Senate Rule.
He noted that his constituents were surprised that no nominee representing FCT was on the list presented to the Senate for screening and confirmation by President Muhammadu Buhari.
He observed that it was surprising to his constituents that even as the Senate prepared to end the screening, no nominee from FCT had been announced.
He drew the attention of the Senate to a judgment of the Court of Appeal on Jan. 16, 2018, affirming that somebody from FCT should be appointed a minister from the territory.
He said that the Federal Government, the respondent in the matter, had not contested the judgment.
He noted that by not contesting the judgment, it implied that the government had complied with the order of the court.
President of the Senate Ahmad Lawan, therefore, requested that the petition be submitted, promising that the petition would be referred to the Senate Committee on Public Petitions.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Buhari released 43 ministerial nominees to the Senate for screening and confirmation on July 23.
In the list, there are nine nominees from the North-West Zone, seven each from the North-Central, North-East, South-West and South-South zones while the South-East zone has six nominees.(NAN)
