Ministerial screening: Saraki rules out vendetta

As the Senate expects the list of ministerial nominees from President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday (today), the President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has charged lawmakers to get ready for a through screening.
Saraki made this known in his welcome address to the senators on Tuesday.
The Senate resumed plenary on Tuesday after a six weeks break.
Saraki in his welcome speech said though he was being persecuted by some forces outside the Senate for being the Senate president, but the screening of the ministerial nominees under his leadership will not be visited with any form of political vendetta.
He said: “As we await the list of ministerial nominees this week, I believe the presence of ministers will create the space for greater policy engagement with the Executive Arm of government and enable us to begin to respond in a more systematic manner to the various economic and social challenges before us, especially through our various Committees that will also be constituted soon.
“On this note, I want to urge you all my colleagues to ensure that what is uppermost in our minds as we begin the constitutional task of screening of ministerial nominees is the overall interest of our country, informed by the enormity and the urgency of the challenges before us.
“Once the list is submitted, let us ensure that we treat it with dispatch and thoroughness. We must not be held down by unnecessary politicking. The enormity of our national challenges at this time does not give room for pettiness or politics of vendetta.”
Saraki added that what was clear to him is that no amount of persecution will make senators who freely elected him as their leader to abandon him and allow outside forces to dictate what they should do to them.
His words: “But what is clear to me also is that the laws of Nigeria and the rules of the National Assembly give consideration only to the wishes and desires of those of you who are here today as members of the Senate, to elect as you wish, one of your peers as President of the Senate. This, in your wisdom, is what you have done by electing me to be the first among all of you who are my equals.
“The laws of Nigeria does not give any consideration to any other forces outside the Senate in the election of its President. And to yield the ground on this note, is to be complicit in the subversion of democracy and its core principles of separation of powers as enshrined in our constitution.
“This is why we must once again, commend President Muhammadu Buhari, for refusing to interfere in the election of the National Assembly leadership even in the face of enormous pressures on him to do so. He has proven quite concretely that he is indeed a born-again democrat.
“Too many people have fought and died for the democracy that we enjoy today. We would not be honouring them and their memories if we allow the sad chapters of our history to continue to repeat themselves like a bad curse.
“As for me, I am prepared to do my duty in defence of our democracy and in safeguarding the independence of the National Assembly. My duty, as I see it, is to do justice and honour to the memory of those who have paid even higher prices to give us this democracy and this constitution.
“Primarily as a Senator of the Federal Republic and as Senate President I owe it to this Senate to stand strong in the face of relentless persecution. I invite all of you to stand with me to defend this Senate and preserve its sanctity.