The Nigerian Senate has been getting heated in its screening of ministerial nominees, some of whom have been subjected to discomfiting scrutiny, unsettling questions and the raising of ghosts from the past.
This is a twist from the perceived casual treatment of some nominees by the Senate, which led to the term “take a bow,” becoming the butt of jokes in the public space, as they were thought to have been lightly processed.
Coming under the swirl of grating scrutiny at the Senate, Monday, was Festus Keyamo, a former Minister of State for Labour and Productivity in the administration of ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, who has been nominated for a ministerial position in the present administration.
The Senate reportedly exploded into a rowdy session when Darlington Nwokocha, a Senator representing Abia Central Senatorial District, moved a motion for the suspension of Keyamo’s ministerial screening.
Nwokocha accused Keyamo of disrespecting the 9th National Assembly and accusing the last Assembly of being corrupt.
Nwokocha further said Keyamo had failed to honour an invitation by the erstwhile Senate, in the administration of ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, to explain a Special Public Works programme.
Nwokocha’s motion was swiftly seconded by Enyinnaya Abaribe, from Abia-South Senatorial District.
The Senate President subsequently subjected the motion to a voice vote but the lawmakers were divided on the matter. A rowdy session then ensued. In the course of the heated debate between the lawmakers, Opeyemi Bamidele, Senate Majority Leader moved for a closed-door session and Senate President, Godswill Akpabio sustained the move.
Just last Saturday, Bosun Tijani, a ministerial nominee from Ogun State, was grilled by senators over a Twitter post he made in 2019.
At the screening, Abdulfatai Buhari, senator representing Oyo north, asked Tijani to speak on the post.
“Nigeria is a bloody expensive tag,” Tijani wrote in the controversial tweet.
Buhari asked the ministerial nominee whether he is still a patriotic Nigerian.
Other senators also insisted that the ministerial nominee should answer the questions raised by Buhari.
In response, Tijani, CEO and co-founder of CcHub, said he posted the tweet based on an experience at the Chinese Embassy.
The ministerial nominee said a Chinese embassy official had informed him that he would be subjected to further scrutiny because of his Nigerian passport.
Tijani said his Twitter posts were made “out of anger and patriotism” for the country — and not hatred. Tijani apologized for his harsh comments.
Before that, Senate Minority Leader, Simon Mwadkwon, tackled Presidential spokesman, Dele Alake over his alleged attack on opposition politicians, accusing the nominee of labeling supporters of a certain presidential candidate as “wild dogs” during the campaign.
Alake served as the Director of Strategic Communication of APC Presidential Campaign Council in the February 25, 2023 poll.
“I read a statement where you labeled supporters of a particular presidential candidate as ‘wild dogs.’ Have you come across that statement? Are you aware of it? Did you say that?” Mwadkwon asked.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio, interjected and urged lawmakers to avoid campaign issues, saying “campaigns are over” and “questions must be nationalistic and not partisan”.
Despite Mwadkwon’s insistence, Akpabio and Opeyemi Bamidele, shielded Alake from responding to the question.
Bamidele said, “We are screening ministerial nominees and we are not supposed to bring in issues that have come and gone.” The minority leader, apparently not satisfied, asked the nominee to recite the second stanza of the national anthem.
Bamidele again interjected, saying the Plateau Senator had brought politics into the screening by asking that Alake recite the national anthem that other nominees had not been asked to recite it.
