President Muhammadu Buhari had on September 30 submitted the first batch of his would-be cabinet members to the National Assembly via the Senate President, Bukola Saraki.
On Tuesday, the screening process began amid drama and laughter.
Saraki began the business of the day by reeling out names of the second list of the ministerial nominees submitted by the President on Monday.
Shortly after unveiling the names, ministerial nominees from Cross River State, Udoma Udo was asked to step forward.
He was simply asked to take a bow and go by the Senate in a unanimous vote after spending few minutes answering questions thrown at him by the Senate President.
Reacting to one of the questions thrown at him, Udo said, “I feel ready, I feel prepared to hit the ground running in trying to bring about change…” adding that “because I am coming from the private sector, I understand them and speak their language.”
Former Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi.
For close to 50 minutes, Fayemi took time to answer some questions from the senators.
He stated that the National Universities Commission, NUC, cannot regulate and operate at the same time, adding that “We need to look at our curriculum, we need to look at teacher quality. We need to make public education attractive.”
He was also tasked on what he thinks can be done about reforms in the nation’s foreign policy, poverty eradication, revenue generation for the government and his plans for the security of the nation.
The biggest ‘fish’ of the day was former national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Audu Ogbe.
The outspoken and eloquent Ogbadibo-born elder statesman dazzled the senators with facts and figures when asked to comment on what was the problem with the agricultural sector.
He had told the lawmakers that “Since I was last in government, I have been practicing agriculture.”
He added that “I want to make it clear to Nigerians that I am not here because I need anything, but I am here because the president of my country has deemed me fit to serve in his cabinet.”
Ogbe, however, stylishly ignored a question on his ouster as the PDP’s chairman in 2005.
Next was, Ogbonnaya Onu. The former Abia State governor also spent seventeen minutes in his appearance before the Senate for screening before being confirmed as Minister.
After answering some of the questions, he was asked to take a bow by the Senate President.
He told the lawmakers that “power is central to many of the things we do as a country. We need to pay attention to power generation. We have to diversify our power generation.”
He advocated the use of coal for the nation’s power generation, saying that such would make problems of pipeline vandalization not to affect electricity supply. He also talked about the resort to renewable energy such as solar.
In terms of unemployment, Onu said: “we need to produce more than we are doing now in terms of agriculture, manufacturing and services.”
On his part, the National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress and a Ministerial nominee, Alhaji Lai Mohammad was also cleared by the Senate as he was unanimously told by the Senators to take a bow and go.
Lai, who addressed the senate amid cheers, said he was very comfortable being in government, and as such was willing to serve under President Buhari who deemed it necessary to consider him as a nominee.
Lai’s introductory speech that was intermittently interrupted by the cheering lawmakers was concluded when he said that if confirmed as a Minister, he will be patriotic, passionate and honest as he was when he was in the opposition.
Mrs Amina Muhammed was also confirmed as she was asked to take a bow after parrying questions. She used the screening to harp on the need for Nigeria to integrate the new Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, into its long term plans.
One of the issues brought up during her screening was the disparity in state’s access to conditional grants while she was the presidential aide on the MDGs. She however reacted to this that there was a widely agreed criteria regarding the distribution of grants.
Mrs. Muhammed however pointed out that her office was however able to build the capacity of those states.
Drama and laughter
The screening of APC spokesperson, Lai Mohammed, caused a loud laughter when he made a comment concerning the opposition party, the Peoples’ Democratic Party.
His introduction on the floor was greeted with shouts of “go and bow!”, “go and bow!!” from the senators.
Speaking later on, Lai Mohammed threw a jab at the PDP, saying “four years is too small to stay in opposition, they might have to stay longer.”
“We will not be as harsh to you as you were to us when we were in the opposition,” he said.
At this point, Sen. Akpabio addressed Lai Mohammed, “We must maintain decorum. This is the Senate, not a House of Assembly,” he said.
“If I know (Lai Mohammed) very well, he may have one or two propaganda to drop before he leaves here”, he added.
David Mark keeps mum, watches from the floor. Former Senate President, David Mark maintained closed lips while his colleagues were busy throwing questions at the ministerial nominees.
Mark who represents Benue South Senatorial District was seen sitting quietly while the screening lasted.
Saraki ignores questions from Nigerians
Observations show that the Senate President, Saraki did not entertain any question from Nigerians. The Senate had asked Nigerians to send in questions for the nominees during the screening.
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