Fred Itua, Abuja

Senate spokesman, Adedayo Adeyeye dismissed reports that  President Muhammadu Buhari’s ministerial list has landed in the upper legislative chamber.

At Wednesday’s plenary, Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, said the ministerial list could be ready this week.

But, Adeyeye told newsmen in Abuja, after yesterday’s plenary, that senators are also anxious to work on the ministerial list but could do nothing about it since it is not the jurisdiction of the parliament to generate the list.

He pointed out that it is entirely the prerogative of the president to nominate those who would form the Federal Executive Council, and that it is a constitutional matter.

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Adeyeye said: “We cannot keep the list, if the list is transmitted to the president of the senate, it will be read immediately. We are also eager. As I told you, we want to hit the ground running.

“This is an activity that is not within our control and there is nothing we can do about it.

“Like I said here two or three days ago, this matter is not within the control of the Senate.  We cannot generate the list on our own, the constitution does not permit us to do that. The Constitution has assigned responsibilities to various parts of government and it is the prerogative of the Executive to nominate ministers which will then be confirmed by the senate.

“Until that duty is undertaken by the executive, there is nothing we can do about that. whether we are hopeful or not is neither here nor there.”

Lawan made the clarification following a motion by Bassey Akpan, who drew the chamber’s attention to the fact that the National Assembly would soon embark on its summer recess, in the next two weeks, without receiving the ministerial list from the Presidency.