Senate concludes screening of 43 ministerial nominees

The Senate on Tuesday concluded the screening of 43 ministerial nominees after a five-day confirmation hearing exercise with the former Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, being the last to be screened.

National Daily gathered that out of the 43 nominees, 22 were asked to ‘take a bow and go’, without any serious questioning from the Senators, while 21 others faced questions bordering on the economy.

The nominees, who enjoyed the privilege of ‘bow and go’ were either former lawmakers or were believed to have been outstanding, in their previous outings.

Out of the 43, female nominees were seven in number.

However, the former Governor of Lagos State and ex-Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, on Monday faced serious questions over the management of his ministry in the last administration with many Senators expressing discontent over housing deficit and the collapse of road infrastructure.

In his speech, the Senate President, Dr Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan said the upper legislative chamber has exhibited patriotism by accepting to stay back for the exercise instead of proceeding on their annual recess.

He urged the minister-designates to work closely with lawmakers because the oversight functions of the National Assembly was sacrosanct.

According to him, days of turning down invitation to appear before parliamentary committees were over, adding that the 9th Senate would not be frivolous in the discharge of its activities.

The Senate President was however optimistic that the annual budget would be presented to the National Assembly by the Executive, first or last week of September, so that the country would revert to the January to December fiscal year.