•Amaechi, Fashola, others to face Senate today •New minister-nominees: Adewole, Daramola, Adamu, Lokpobiri, Ahmed, 9 others make list

THERE was drama on the floor of the Senate, on Tuesday, during the screening of minister-nominees sent to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari.

This ensued as the Senate leader; Senator Alli Ndume, moved the motion for the national publicity secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Lai Mohammed, to be allowed to take a bow and go.

Senate minority leader, Godswill Akpabio, inputed the drama when he was asked to second the motion that Mohammed take a bow and go.

He amended the motion, saying Mohammed should be allowed to clear his mind on the floor, so that he could drop one or two propaganda before leaving.

The statement from Akpabio elicited laughter on the floor.

The senators, who on Tuesday commenced the screening of the nominees, however, protested failure to attach states of origin to the letter of nomination for the screening.

Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, who spoke after the Senate President took the floor of the chamber to commence the screening process, said the message should be passed to President Buhari to ensure that he attached the states of origin of nominees to the letter of nomination in the future.

He said the letters, as sent by Buhari, left senators guessing as to the state of origin of the nominees, adding that he was also not sure of the nominee from his state.

The senators, however, screened 10 out of the 21 nominees in the first batch of the list forwarded by President Buhari, while the chamber also received another 16-man list, which the president described as the final list of nominees.

Others screened alongside Lai Mohammed were Senator Udoma Udo Udoma; former governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi; former national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Audu Ogbeh; Chief Ogbonnaya Onu; Dr Ehanire Osagie; Lieutenant-General Abdurahman Dambazzau; Engineer Suleiman Hussaini Adamu; Amina Ibrahim Mohammed and Mr Ibrahim Usman Jibril.

The nominees answered a wide range of questions, with the exception of Mohammed, who was simply asked to “bow and go.”

Two of the nominees, Fayemi and Dambazzau, were thoroughly grilled, with the development fuelling speculation that a former governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi and his counterpart from Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola, might face a tough time when they appear for screening today.

The 16-man list sent on Tuesday to the Senate were also unveiled, with Khadijah Bukkar Abba lbrahim, Claudius Omoleye Daramola, Professor Anthony Onwuka, Geoffrey Onyeama, Brigadier-General M. M Dan-Ali (retd), James Ocholi, Zainab and Shamsuna Ahmed making the list.

Others were Okechukwu Enelamah, Muhammed Bello, Mustapha Baba Shehuri, Ms Aisha Abubakar, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, Adamu Adamu, Pastor Usani Usani Uguru and Honourable Abubakar Bawa Bwari.

Buhari said he was forwarding the list in line with the provisions of Section 147 (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended, adding that the list contained the final list of the would-be ministers.

Briefing the Senate correspondents at the end of Tuesday’s sitting, Senator Dino Melaye said the newly unveiled nominees would be taken during the week alongside the 21-man list earlier received on September 30.

According to him, the Senate would strive to complete the screening this week, adding that the newly unveiled nominees must immediately complete their documentations at the National Assembly.

Immediately the list of new nominees were read by the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, Senate minority whip, Phillip Aduda, raised a Point of Order, citing Sections 147 and 299 of the Constitution.

He said since the constitution required that the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) should be seen as if it is a state; the people of the area deserved a minister-nominee.

The atmosphere at the entrance of the National Assembly was, however, calm on Tuesday, contrary to expectations of many Nigerians.

Many had expected protesters to flood the entrance of the Assembly complex in protest against some nominees.

But the senators first took a report of the Senate committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petition, which probed a petition against Hajia Amina Ibrahim Mohammed, who was believed to have been nominated from Kaduna State.

The committee, however, cleared the woman, after concluding that she was a nominee from Gombe State.

Before the commencement of the screening, the senators had held a closed-door session for one hour, during which they agreed on the modalities for the screening.

Former Senate chief whip, Senator Udoma, who was the first to be screened, spoke about the state of Nigerian economy, adding that there was the need to ease the process of doing business in Nigeria.

The former senator, who was questioned by the Senate President and his deputy was, however, allowed not to answer the questions posed to him by Senator Saraki.

Senators chorused “bow and go” as soon as he was about answering the questions posed by Ekweremadu.

The Deputy Senate President had asked Udoma for his view on the PIB and the national conference report conducted by the last administration.

While answering Saraki’s question, Udoma said Nigeria was currently ranked 170 out of 189 countries on the ease of doing business, adding that to turn the economy around, the country needed to grow at 30 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP), rather than the current 20 per cent rate.

“We have to look at the various policies for manufacturing. They have to be consistent because that is what investors want. To increase the investment rate from its current 20 to 30 per cent, we have to look at the issue of enabling environment, review our tax policies and I am ready to help redesign it being a child of the private sector,” he said, adding that as a member of the private sector, he understood their language and knew what they needed.

He also said he was surprised to be named as a minister by Buhari, adding that since he left the Senate in 2007, he had left active politics.

Fayemi, who also appeared before the Senate, said though he left some debts in Ekiti State while he served as governor, he had managed the state to the best of his ability.

He stated he inherited a debt of N30 billion from the previous government due to several commitments, but was able to offset it, while only leaving a debt of N18 billion as governor.

He also denied the claim that he bought a bed of N50 million for the State House, adding that the entire Government House was bult with N2.5 billion.

He challenged anyone with invoice to the contrary to show his proof of the purchase of the said bed at N50 million.

“The state was saddled with outstanding obligations. (Segun) Oni did not envisage he was going to leave office and as such, I met obligation to the excess of N30 billion and I took it up, completed all the projects, paid up the outstanding obligations to the contractors. Now, Ekiti is 33 in the revenue ladder of the country, with a monthly income of N3 billion and salary expenditure of N2.4 billion. If you find yourself in such a state, it is to find ways to meet the promises made to the people of the state.”

He insisted that the bed he bought for the state cost N1.5 million, adding that the State House was built as a legacy House costing only N2.5 billion and ranked among the cheapest in the country.

Chief Audu Ogbeh, who appeared after him, said the nation needed to focus on agriculture, in order to feed its people.

According to him, agricultural yield in the country was low, compared to other countries and continents, adding that this was so because there was no seed company in the country.

He said the nation must device means to feed its people, especially in view of the growing population.

Dr Osagie Ehanire from Edo State also canvassed a review of school curriculum while facilities should be enhanced to meet global standards.

He said hospitals should be better managed and that the fight against corruption should be extended to the health sector.

“I think that many people that go to hospital don’t get desired attention. I canvassed orientation programmes for hospital workers,” he said.

He also stated that the issue of wrong diagnosis can be handled, while asking for the standardisation of traditional medicine.

He further said: “Doctors that are well-trained do not have equipment, others are not properly remunerated, as such, they have to find solace outside.”

Former Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant-General Abdulrahman Danbazzau, said Nigeria must take advantage of the opportunities provided by the United Nations to improve the reimbursement of its soldiers.

He said that while he agreed that the North-East had been ravaged by poverty and insecurity and the soldiers were losing their lives, there must be improvements on incentives.

He stated: “Although there are allowances and incentives approved to them, there is need for an upward review and one of the ways is to take advantage of the United Nations reimbursement system. We have often relied on budget but if we can assess the United Nations Fund, the budget would be utilised on the welfare of staff and equipment. There is also need for capacity building and inculcation of discipline among the officers and men.”

On the herdsmen and farmers imbroglio, he said the nation must tackle the issue of ecology, adding that “it is a matter of two parties fighting on a quick sand; at the end of the day, two of them might be submerged.”