The
Senate on Wednesday summoned the Secretary to the Government of the
Federation, Babachir Lawal, and the Foreign Affairs Minister, Geofrey
Onyeama, over the lopsided list of 47 career diplomats sent to the red
chamber about two weeks ago.
They alleged that some states were excluded from the list whereas some states had up to three nominees.
Apart from this, the senators also
explained that there were specific petitions against some nominees, who
were said to have been picked ahead of their senior colleagues from
their states of origin.
The Chief Whip, Olusola Adeyeye, cited
the case of two directors on level 17, from the same state who were
dropped for a junior officer.
He said, “The two of them are in fact,
already on level 17 and in making the recommendations many who are
junior to them in experience and in status have been elevated above
them. They therefore want some intervention from the chamber to be sure
that correct process is followed.
“They also said that there are those who
have served the republic meritoriously who did not get passed because
of whatever might be the internal politics of the ministry.
“So, I plead that relevant committee and this chamber would take a second look at this prayer.
“We should direct that the minister for
foreign affairs, and the SGF to appear before the committee on foreign
affairs to explain the omissions and irregularities and the processes by
which some of these names came about.”
Credit: Punch
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