The Nigerian Senate has confirmed the 43 ministerial nominees that were screened for appointment into the cabinet of President Muhammadu Buhari.
After the screening that began on Wednesday, July 24 and ended on Tuesday, July 30, the Senate took the next step of confirming all the screened ministerial nominees.
The Senate president Ahmad Lawan asked the senators if they approve the appointment of each of the senators, and the lawmakers responded in the affirmative.
Recall that the personal assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on new media, Bashir Ahmad, has said that the Senate may confirm all the 43 senatorial nominees. Ahmad made the disclosure through his personal Twitter handle on Tuesday, July 30.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) demanded that the list containing President Muhammadu Buhari’s ministerial nominees be sent to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for further screening.
The PDP urged the Senate to send the list to the anti-graft agency to further give credibility to the screening process ahead of the inauguration of the nominees.
According to the opposition party, the screening exercise by the EFCC would enable the Senate to further confirm that many of the nominees, including those who are former governors and ministers, allegedly wrecked their states and ministries, have serious allegations of corruption, abuse of office and stealing of public funds hanging on their necks.
The PDP claimed that corruption in the country has now escalated into a state art even as President Buhari promised to only nominate those he knows personally. A statement by the party’s spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, read:
“The PDP calls on the Senate to note that some of the nominees have failed to defend their corruption allegations,” Ologbondiyan noted that “a particular former minister from the north central, who had admitted to the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) of complicity in the N2.5 billion National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) fraud case, still pending in court”.
NAN
