The Senator representing Zamfara Central, Kabiru Marafa, has questioned the legality of the 65 standing committees announced by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, on Wednesday, November 4.
At the continuation of legislative proceedings on Tuesday, Senator Marafa raised a point of order, insisting that the Principle of Fairness was not followed in the appointment of committee chairmen.
The Senate President had named 65 Senate Committees to oversee various Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the government. He also named the committees’ chairmen and deputy chairmen.
Forty-one of the committees are chaired by the ruling All Progressives Congress’ Senators while 24 committees are headed by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party.
There was however no visible reaction after he named the chairmen and vice chairmen of the committees until the resumption of legislative proceedings on Tuesday.
Questioning the legality of the standing committees, the lawmaker also pointed out that the creation of more standing committees was illegal.
“The Senate President did not consult with the selection committee before taking this decision,” he alleged.
Briefing journalists after plenary, the spokesman for Senate explained the position of the Senate on the issue of chairmanship of committees and appealed to lawmakers dissatisfied with the committees given to them to put aside their grievances and focus on doing the job which Nigerians elected them to do.
