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Senate clears 45 ministerial nominees, withholds El-Rufai, 2 others’ confirmation (Full list)

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9 months ago

August 8, 2023

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The Senate on Monday confirmed 45 out of the 48 ministerial nominees forwarded to the parliament by President Bola Tinubu.

The Red Chamber concluded the screening exercise with the former Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, facing the lawmakers earlier on Monday.

The upper legislative chamber, however, withheld the confirmation of the remaining nominees namely former Governor of Kaduna State; Nasir El-Rufai, Stella Okotete (Delta State), and Abubakar Danladi (Taraba State), as they are said to still be undergoing security clearance.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio put the nominations to a series of voice votes, of which all but 3 were approved.

Other affected nominees were Senator Abubakar Danlandi from Taraba State and former managing director of Nexim Bank, Stella Otekete.

The former governor has been under scrutiny over the security challenges in Kaduna State during his tenure.

A former federal lawmaker, Shehu Sani, had last month urged the Senate to reject El-Rufai’s nomination over the killings in Southern Kaduna and other parts of the state.

He was also criticised by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in May over remarks he made against Christians a few days after the conclusion of the last general election in the country.

There had been a couple of petitions against these ministerial nominees which came up during their screening at the Senate.

Senator Sunday Karimi (APC, Kogi West) presented a petition written against the former governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, during the screening.

Karimi, after El-Rufai’s presentations, stood up and told the chamber that he had a petition written against the former governor over the issue of insecurity in Southern Kaduna.

He said, “Your performance in any office you find yourself in the country has been outstanding. In the bureau of public enterprises, your record is there, in FCT as a minister, your record is there, and as two-time governor of Kaduna state, you did well.”

Meanwhile, after making his presentation, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, at the plenary refused to take the petition, leveled against the former governor and said a number of petitions were submitted against a number of the ministerial nominees.

Also, during the screening a petition against Dalandi about a court judgment restricting him from holding public office for 10 years was presented to the senate.

Copies of some petitions against Okotette in the Public Space also confirmed that there were a number of petitions against the former Nexim Bank, Okotete, including non-disclosure of assets to the Code of Conduct Bureau.

The list of 45 ministerial nominees confirmed by the Senate are;

Abubakar Kyari (Borno)

Abubakar Momoh (Edo)

Nyesom Wike – Rivers

Engr Joseph Utserv (Benue)

Senator John Owan Enoh (Cross River)

Hon Bello Mohammad (Sokoto)

Mohammed Badaru Abubakar (Jigawa)

Yusuf Maitama Tuggar (Bauchi)

Uju Kennedy Ohaneye (Anambra)

Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo (Ondo)

Nkieruka Onyejeocha (Abia)