Senator representing Rivers East Senatorial District, Senator George Thompson Sekibo, yesterday raised alarm over circumstances surrounding the recent judgement of the Rivers State National Assembly and House of Assemblies Election Petition Tribunal which upturned his victory at the December ,10, 2016 rerun elections as he said he is yet to get copies of the judgment.
Sekibo in a chat with Senate correspondents in Abuja said the chairman of the Tribunal has also not been available since the ruling, adding that his lawyers were also  yet to receive the ruling to enable them study it and  appeal the judgment.
According to him, every attempt to reach the Chairman and other members of the Tribunal have proved abortive.
Senator Sekibo therefore alleged that there are grand plots to frustrate his right to appeal the judgement and pointed out that as a true citizen of this nation, he should be allowed to have his day in the appeal tribunal.
Recall that the three-man panel sitting at Apo Quarters in the Federal Capital Territory last week declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Andrew Uchendu winner of the election and directed the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC  to withdraw the Certificate of Return issued to Sekibo and issue a fresh certificate of return to Mr Uchendu.
Senator Sekibo had immediately declared his intention to appeal the judgement on the grounds that he had enough evidence to prove the judgement wrong .
Meanwhile, the Senate, on resumption from a 2 – week recess, yesterday resolved to forthwith suspend all confirmation requests of nominees forwarded to it by the Presidency even as the Upper Chamber raise  impeachment threat against the Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo.
The Senate’s threat was said to have emanated from  allegation of non compliance to the resolutions of the Upper Legislative Chamber by the Executive.
The warning came from the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, sequel to debate on the floor on a Point of Order raised by Senator Ahmed Sani over a statement issued by the Acting President that the Senate has no power to confirm nominees of the Executive according to the Constitution.
Commenting after the debate, Senator Saraki said, “this is an issue that we have to once and for all address, we can not pass laws and see that the laws are not being obeyed.
“This resolution must be obeyed by the Acting President, otherwise, we will take appropriate actions and resolutions”.
The upper chamber also called on the Acting President to withdraw his statement that the Senate does not have power to confirm certain appointees of the president
Earlier, contributing to the debate, Senator Isah Hamman Misau (APC, Bauchi), accused the Acting President of double standards on the issue of the Senate’s power of confirmation.
According to the lawmaker, “there are a lot of ministers who have high level corruption allegations against them but they have never been harassed, instead, these same ministers go about castigating the National Assembly.”
Senator George Thomson Sekibo making his comments chided the executive over its continued refusal to comply with the resolutions of the Senate.
“If the Acting President says we do not have power to return any nomination, I wonder if he is in touch with the EFCC Act. The EFCC Act states that the President shall nominate and Senate will confirm. If you reject one law, you will reject the constitution.
“There is nothing like executive orders in a democratic constitution. The Constitution did not give room for acting appointment after a nominee has been rejected by the Senate.
“If the Acting President says we do not have the power to confirm and then turns around to send us a nomination, which one do we now take? I think Senate should put a suspension on this nomination until this issue is resolved”, Senator Sekibo added.
Senator Samuel Anyawu, called on his colleagues to disregard any invitation extended to lawmakers by thee Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, in view of the double standard being applied by the executive on issues of the red chamber’s resolution yet to be complied with
“Magu came for a job interview and failed and he was rejected. As we speak, Magu is still parading himself as the chairman of EFCC. The same executive now writes a letter that we should confirm someone who went to resume office without confirmation and he was chased out of office. Now that name has been brought before us.
“The integrity of the Senate is at stake. This Senate cannot be disregarded and insulted; our authority to confirm cannot be eroded.
I am moving a motion that it becomes aborminable to read any other confirmation report in this chamber until they act on our position. Those who have failed should go back, Magu is not the last Nigerian Angel. He can serve this country in another capacity.”
Following the outcome of the debate, the Senate resolved to suspend all issues relating to confirmation from the executive until issues of confirmation as contained in relevant provisions of  the constitution are adhered to.
Also, the Senate yesterday declared the ongoing moves by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to effect the recall of Senator Dino Melaye (APC Kogi West) by his constituents illegal and efforts in futility.
The Senate said the various stages passed so far in the move as facilitated by INEC were not in accordance with constitutional procedures and guidelines and therefore would only amount to waste of time.
Senate’s resolution to this effect followed a point of order raised against the move by Dino Melaye in the Senate chambers.
Melaye presenting his point of order , drew the attention of the Senate to alleged moves by INEC to conclude works on recall petitions written against him by some of his constituents sponsored by the State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello.
His words,“the score of both valid and invalid votes in the election that brought him into the Senate in 2015 was 118,000 but my governors and his appointees in four days claim they got a signature of over 188,000.
“They got INEC data base of registered voters and copied in one writing into a recall register and forged all the signatures. As I speak to you, over 120 dead certificates issued by the National Population Commission and these people relations and families have sworn to affidavit and these certificates have been deposited.
Consequently, the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who cited Sections 68, 69 and other relevant provisions of the 1999 constitution (as amended), to make his contribution, wondered why INEC is not following the laid down procedure of carrying out such exercise.
“I am wondering why we are dissipating energy on this matter and wasting precious legislative time on a matter we should not. What is happening in Kogi, in respect of Senator Dino Melaye, as far as this Constitution is concerned, is an exercise in futility. They are just wasting precious time because the constitution is clear on what should happen.
“It is possible that the Attorney- General of Kogi State has not advised them properly, if he has done that, I am sure they would have applied their time to more meaningful ventures in Kogi State”, he said.
He specifically declared that in 2010, the National Assembly amended the constitution regarding section 69 which deals with recall process of a federal lawmaker.
According to him, as clearly stated by the section, “the number of those who are seeking for recall of Senator Melaye from the Senate are supposed to line up somewhere in kogi state with him and his lawyers and each person would verify their signature.

Nneka Amaechi-Nnadi, Abuja