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•Senator submits petition against him, Akpabio stops move
From Fred Itua, Abuja
The ministerial confirmation of the immediate-past governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, yesterday, faced a major hiccup following the submission of a petition against him by a senator.
El-Rufai had finished giving a brief detail about himself when the senator representing Kogi West, Sunday Karimi, raised a point of order. While questioning Nasir El-Rufai, Karimi said though he performed well as governor and FCT minister, there was a petition against him bordering on national security and national unity. He insisted that the issue be considered.
Attempts by El-Rufai to respond to the petition was rebuffed by lawmakers.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, intervened and stopped El-Rufai from responding.
Akpabio said he had received similar petitions against other nominees, but insisted that the issue will not be discussed now.
“I’ve received petitions in respect of other nominees and this is not where we deal with the issue of petitions. If there are petitions, we’ll refer them to the President or the security agencies. When its time to confirm, we will look at all the issues,” Akpabio said.
Former governor of Ebonyi State and Senate deputy leader, David Umahi, was the first to take the stage. Umahi, in line with the tradition of the Senate, was not questioned. He was asked to take a bow and go after giving a brief detail about himself.
Others screened were Ahmed Musa Dangiwa (Katsina); Chief Uche Geoffrey Nnaji (Enugu); Stella Erhuvwuoghene Okotete (Delta); Mr. Adekola Adebayo Adelabu (Oyo); Ekperikpe Ekpo Akwa (Ibom); and Hannatu Musawa (Katsina).
The other five nominees are expected to be screened on Wednesday, after which they’ll be confirmed.
According to the letter read on the floor of the Senate last Thursday by Akpabio, more nominations are expected in the coming days and a full cabinet expected to be inaugurated in another two weeks.
Those listed in the letter were Abubakar Momoh, Yusuf Maitama, Architect Dangiwa, Hannatu Musawa, Chief Uche Nnaji, Beta Edu, Doris Aniche, David Umahi and Nyesom Wike
Others are Mohamed Badaru, Nasir El-Rufai, Ekperikpe Ekpo, Nkiru onyejiocha, Olubumi Ojo, Stella okotekpe, Uju Kennedy, Bello Mohammed Goroyo, Dele Alake and Lateef Fagbemi.
Also listed are Mohammed Idris, Edu Muhi, Wahid Adebayo, Imma Suleiman, Ali pate, Joseph Usev, Abubaka Kyari, John Eno and Sani Abubakar Damladi.
While States like Cross River and Katsina got two nominees each, Lagos, Osun, Adamawa, Bayelsa, Gombe, Kano, Kebbi, Kogi, Yobe and Zamfara got no nominees.
