TheCable

Garba Shehu, senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity, says the rift between the executive and the senate will soon be resolved.

He said this known on Wednesday while interacting with state house correspondents.

The senate on Tuesday resolved to suspend the consideration of all the nominees which the executive sends to it for confirmation.

This followed the comment of Acting President Yemi Osinbajo that Ibrahim Magu, acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), despite being rejected by the senate.

Shehu said Osinbajo’s remarks were misconstrued and that the acting president was “merely lending” voice to the view expressed by Femi Falana, a human rights lawyer.

“Our understanding is that some remarks made by the acting president some months ago when he was the vice-president because the president was around at that time, an opinion he gave is being misconstrued,” he said.

“A senior lawyer in the country offered an opinion, in which he said some categories of public officers traditionally cleared by the national assembly need not go through that process, that those ones can be appointed by the presidential fiat; they don’t have to go through screening.

“But several months ago, in his position as Vice-President Osinbajo gave a personal opinion saying what this lawyer said made sense.”

Shehu said though the government had not taken any decision on the issue, all parties involved in the matter will soon meet to resolve it.

“There is no official position by the government of Nigeria… the federal executive council never sat down to take a decision to say that some categories of officials will not be sent to the national assembly or that the authority of the senate under the constitution to screen and pass nominees has never been questioned by the government or the federal executive council,” he said.

“From the time the vice president gave that opinion to now, more than twenty nominations have been forwarded to the senate and quite a number of them have been screened, sworn-in and are now occupying positions so, therefore, this is not a big issue as some people want to make it.

“The party, government and the national assembly will sit on a round table and this matter will be discussed and resolved. I assure you.”