Senate Reviews Ministerial Nominees Today

Reported by Ayooluwa Afolabi

The Senate will evaluate the ministerial nominees submitted for confirmation by President Bola Tinubu, today.

According to Vanguard, the nominees, who have been cleared by the Department of State Services, DSS, besieged the office of the Special Adviser to the President on Senate Matters, Senator Basheer Lado, yesterday, to submit their curriculum vitae to beat the deadline.

Earlier in the day, the Ministers of Education, Trade and Investment, and Livestock submitted their resumes.

Meanwhile, Lado confirmed in a statement that ministerial nominees had commenced documentation ahead of their screening and confirmation by the Senate, which commences today.

The statement read: “He stated that the nominees were already submitting relevant documents as first in the series of procedures for the screening and confirming ministerial nominees.

“The nominees are expected to be screened and confirmed by the Senate in compliance with Section 147 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (As Amended).”

Recall that President Tinubu had written the Senate, seeking the screening and subsequent confirmation of appointments of seven ministerial nominees announced in Abuja on Wednesday.

President Tinubu’s request was contained in a letter addressed to the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, and read last Thursday during plenary.

According to the letter, the ministerial nominees were Dr. Nentawe Yilwatda, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction; Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi, Minister of Labour and Employment; and Bianca Odinaka Odumegu-Ojukwu, Minister of State, Foreign Affairs.

Others were Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, Minister of Industry, Trade, and Development; Idi Maiha, Minister of Livestock Development; Yusuf Abdullahi Ata, Minister of State, Housing; and Dr. Suwaiba Ahmad, Minister of State, Education.

President Tinubu in the letter had sought expeditious consideration of his request by the Senate.

Accordingly, as announced by Akpabio, the Senate immediately referred the presidential request to the Committee of the Whole for consideration.

He said: “Distinguished colleagues, the presidential request is referred to the committee of the whole for consideration very soon.”