The Senate, on Wednesday, resumed screening of the ministerial nominees of President Bola Tinubu for the third straight day.
Those to be screened today are presidential spokesman Dele Alake; Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Lateef Fagbemi; Muhammad Idris, Ali Pate, and Doris Uzoka.
The Senate had on Tuesday screened nine nominees and adjourned the exercise till Wednesday. Those screened on Tuesday are ex-governors Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna) and Dave Umahi (Ebonyi); Wale Edun, Uche Nnaji, Stella Okotete, Adebayo Adelabu, Ekperikpe Ekpo, Hannatu Musawa, and Musa Dangiwa.
The upper chamber had on Monday screened 14 of the 28-man list of ministerial nominees forwarded by the President last Thursday.
Those screened on Monday include former governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike; Abubakar Kyari from Borno State; Nkiruka Onyejeocha (Abia State); Bello Muhammad (Sokoto State); Sani Abubakar Danladi (Taraba State); and Badaru Abubakar (Jigawa State).
Others are Joseph Utsev (Benue State), Olubunmi Tunji Ojo (Ondo State), Betta Edu (Cross River State), Uju Kennedy Ohaneye (Anambra State), Abubakar Momoh (Edo State), John Enoh (Cross River State), Iman Suleiman Ibrahim (Nasarawa State), and Yusuf Maitama Tuggar (Bauchi State).
Section 147 (3) of the 1999 Constitution mandates the President to appoint at least one minister from each of the 36 states. However, 11 states – Adamawa, Bayelsa, Gombe, Kano, Kebbi, Kogi, Lagos, Osun, Yobe, Plateau and Zamfara — and the Federal Capital Territory don’t have ministerial nominees yet.
The President is expected to send a supplementary ministerial list to the red chamber anytime soon.
See Wednesday’s live update:
1625 – Doris Uzoka from Imo State, the last ministerial nominee from the first list of names forwarded by the President to the Senate took to the podium.
1602 – Ministerial nominee from Bauchi State, Ali Pate, took to the podium. He was quizzed by the lawmakers and asked to take a bow.
1600 – Akpabio asked Fagbemi to take a bow after the session.
1522 – The Senator grilled Fagbemi on how he would handle issues if appointed the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.
1519 – Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, submitted the President’s second batch ministerial list to the Senate.
1453 – Lateef Fagbemi made his way into the chamber as the next ministerial nominee for screening.
1355 – A nominee from Niger State, Muhammad Idris, takes the podium and was screened by the lawmakers.
1354 – Akpabio asked Alake to take a bow and that marked the end of the appearance of the presidential spokesman before the red chamber.
1300 – The Senators grilled the nominee on his views on social media regulations and press freedom.
1235 – Alake takes the podium and shared his profile with the lawmakers. The nominee from Ekiti State told the Senators how he “fought” for democracy since the June 12, 1993 saga.
