Daboya-Mankarigu MP, Shaibu Mahama, has criticized the Minority in Parliament, accusing them of turning the vetting of the Chief Justice nominee into a scripted performance rather than a genuine parliamentary exercise.
Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express, the lawmaker alleged that the Minority arrived at the vetting session with a premeditated plan that fell apart during proceedings.
“Clearly, the Minority came not to ask questions, but it came with a script. Unfortunately, they couldn’t mark the script,” he said.
Mahama defended the conduct of the Majority Leader, emphasizing that all his actions during the vetting adhered to parliamentary procedures. “Every single act that the Majority Leader did was clearly in line with the rules and regulations that govern the proceedings of Parliament,” he maintained.
He explained that the Appointments Committee functions as an extension of Parliament, and therefore, all rules governing parliamentary sessions apply equally during vetting.
“Indeed, the vetting committee or Appointments Committee is an extension of Parliament. So every rule that you will expect from Plenary is the same rule that is applied. And so if you raise issues that offend the rules, the Majority Leader has every single right to object to that,” he clarified.
The MP further accused the Minority of inconsistency, noting that they had earlier announced a boycott of the vetting before showing up unexpectedly.
“They did not come to the party. When you ask a question whether they had, they had announced that they were not even coming for the vetting. Then suddenly they appeared with the script. That script, unfortunately, they couldn’t mark it,” he added.