Former governor of Jigawa state Turaki was arraigned in court last Friday by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged money laundering and other related offences.

His Enugu counterpart. Dr. Nnamani may be arraigned this week for similar offence.

The duo were elected into the Senate on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the same platform on which they were elected governors more than eight years ago.

But, Senate in its first official reaction yesterday explained why it could not intervene in the on-going trial of Senators Nnamani and Turaki.

Deputy majority leader of the senate, Victor Ndoma-Egba who disclosed the Senate position yesterday, said that the upper house could not wade into the matter, because the offences the two senators were allegedly committed before they were elected into the senate".

Ndoma-Egba in a telephone interview with Daily Champion yesterday said that the hands of the senate are tied.

He spoke against the backdrop of speculation in some quarters that the senate president senator David Mark who has the ear of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua may have intervened in the trial of the two colleagues.

There are however fears in the senate that two more ex-governors also in the senate may be arrested by EFCC any moment this week.

The elected former governors are said to have mounted pressure on Mark to intervene in the on going offensive against them.

Meanwhile the senate will today resume screening of President Yar’Adua’s ministerial nominees.

Senate had last week cleared 17 out of the 34 ministerial nominees presented to it by Yar"Adua two weeks ago. Senate at the resumed sitting today is expected to commence screening of the 17 nominees who were by Thursday last week not cleared by security agencies.

Daily Champion gathered that ten out of the 17 nominees have been cleared to face the senate today.

Former president of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) Charles Ugwu (Imo) former deputy governor of CBN Shamsudeen Usman (Kano) and Sen. Sanusi Daggash (Borne) may top the list of nominees that will take their turn in the screening today.

Others yet to be screened are Dr. Aliyu Hong (Adamawa) Alhaji Garba Bichi (Kano), Dr. Hassan Lawal (Nassarawa), Ibrahim Gimba (Niger) Junji Isola (Ogun), Adefokunbo Kayode {Ondo} Ahmed Gusau {Sokoto} Alhaji Ibrahim El-Sudi {Taraba} Adamu Waziri (Yobe), Dr. Aliyu Modibbo (Gombe) and Tijani Kaura (Zamfara).