Udoma, Danbazzau, Amina Mohammed, Ehanire, Jibrin, Ogbeh, Adamu also screened Saraki unveils 16 would-be ministers

For over five hours yesterday, 10 would-be ministers took turns before the Senate, answering questions on their plans for the country, if confirmed. They were the first set of ministerial nominees to be screened.

They are on the first list of 21 nominees sent to Senate President Bukola Saraki on September 30 by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The remaining 11 on the list are expected to appear before the Senate today.

Those screened yesterday are Senator Udoma Udo-Udoma (Akwa Ibom State), former Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi, Chief Audu Ogbeh (Benue), Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu (Ebonyi), Dr. Osagie Ehanire (Edo), Lt. Gen. Abdulrahman Danbazzau (Kano), Alhaji Lai Mohammed (Kwara), Mrs. Amina Ibrahim Mohammed (Gombe), Suleiman Adamu and Ibrahim Jibrin.

Before the exercise began, Dr. Saraki read out the names on the second list of nominees sent to him by the President on Monday.

On the list are Khadija Buka Abba Ibrahim, (Yobe), Claudius Omoleye Daramola (Ondo), Prof. Anthony Anwuka (Imo); Geoffrey Onyeama ; Brig. Gen. M.M. Dan-Ali (rtd) (Zamfara); Barrister James E. Ocholi (Kogi) and Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, Okechukwu Enelamah (Abia); Muhammad Bello (Adamawa); Mustapha Baba Shehuri; Ms. Aisha Abubakar, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri (Bayelsa); Adamu Adamu (Bauchi); Prof. Isaac Adewole (Osun); Pastor Usani Usani Uguru and Abubakar Bwari Bawa (Niger).

After adopting last Thursday's votes and proceedings, the Senate went into a closed door session to spell out the rules for the screening.

Led into the chamber by Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Ita Enang. Senator Udoma took his turn first. Saraki asked him to introduce himself and prepare to answer (Senate) questions.

Udoma said he had not been involved in partisan politics since he left the Senate in 2007. He pledged to contribute his quota to the growth of the country if confirmed.

The nominee was asked to "take a bow and go" after he spoke about the need for the country to pay more attention to the economy. Fayemi said he was delighted to appear before the Senate for screening.

The former governor said he considers himself a teacher and a researcher. Senator Olusola Adeyeye asked him about the debt he was alleged to have left in Ekiti and the huge sum he was also alleged to have spent on furnishing the Government House.

Fayemi said he believed that government is a continuum, adding that no government could run without obligations.

He said he inherited a debt in excess of N30 billion, including money owed contractors, when he became governor. According to him, he worked to liquidate the debt to give the state the leverage for development.

The former governor said he approached the capital market to raise a N25 billion bond for the state's development. The debt he left behind, he said, was not in the range of what is being bandied about by some people.

He challenged those alleging that he bought a N50 million bed to furnish the Government House to produce the proof. The nominee said: "I challenge anyone to bring an invoice of a bed in the State House that is worth N50million. I did not spend irresponsibly on it. The State House we met was probably one of the cheapest state houses in Nigeria.

"I used my relationship to raise a lot of funds with institutions like the World Bank, Department for International Development (DFID). There is no country that does not borrow. I did not borrow to pay salaries."

Ekiti, he said has one of the best health care services in the country, adding that he initiated the payment of N5,000 to the elderly monthly as social welfare. This initiative, he said, has been embraced by the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the national level.

The former governor said he did not borrow to pay salaries insisting that he built a new Government House because the state never had a befitting Government House. He described the Government House as a multi-purpose edifice.

Fayemi said there was nothing he put in the Government House that he walked away with. He went on: "There is no N50 million bed in Ekiti Government House. It was not even up to N25 million".

The former governor put the cost of the Government House at N2.5 billion, saying the edifice "remains a Legacy House." Fayemi, who said he was never an apostle of third term, noted that alteration of power is the best way to deepen democracy and not to perpetuate oneself in office.

Ogbe said he was not appearing before the Senate for confirmation because he is looking for something new, because President Buhari deemed it fit to nominate him to serve as a minister. His explanation, he said, was informed by what he had read about his nomination.

On why movement from one party to another is rampant in the country, Ogbe said defection happens everywhere, especially in emerging democracies.

He said internal democracy should be taken seriously in the country, adding that the tendency to hand over the party machinery to the President and governors is harmful. Ogbe was asked to take a bow and go.

Onu talked about the need to diversify power generation for steady supply. He stressed the need to use coal for power generation, saying is better than gas for power generation.

Dr. Ehanire spoke about poor medical services in the country. The nominee said he is involved in the T.Y. Danjuma Foundation which aims to train and retrain traditional birth attendants.

Lt. Gen. Dambazau spoke about the need to review the country's defence policy from time to time to provide the guideline for defence issues. Dambazau said the armed forces depend on the defence policy to form battle guidelines.

On defence budget, he said when he was the Chief of Army Staff, the maximum he could spend was N15 million, adding that this was later increased to N20 million.

Dambazau said anything above N20 million was referred to the Minister of Defence for approval. He said that was the practice until he left Service.

Alhaji Lai Mohammed caused a stir when he entered the Chambers. He was hailed and cheered by APC senators, while their Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterparts hooted. The APC spokesperson bowed six times before Dr. Saraki amid a thunderous applause as as senators.

When the chambers became silent Dr. Saraki intoned: "The nominee before you Distinguished Senators is from Kwara State."

Saraki asked whether the Senators have Mohammed's Curriculum Vitae (CV). There was deafening a "yes, yes, yes" in the chamber.

Senate Leader Mohammed Ali Ndume rose from his seat, saying: "Alhaji Lai Mohammed is very well known to this chamber. I move that he should take a bow and go."

PDP senators half heardly opposed the motion. Saraki urged Mohammed to tell the chamber "a little about himself" in line with the Senate's convention.

Mohammed complied and introduced himself, saying he was in the chamber to seek the senators' to be confirmed as minister. "I demands higher service to be in government".

In a lighter mood, Minority Leader Senator Godswill Akpabio said: "This is the Senate and not a House of Assembly. If I know the nominee very well, he may have one or two propaganda to drop before he takes a bow.2

There was general laughter in the chamber.

Before he took a bow and left, Mohammed promised that if confirmed, he would be passionate, committed and patriotic."

Amina Mohammed spoke on the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) where she once served as Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan.

Suleiman Adamu spoke about road construction and the Ministry of Works. Mr. Ibrahim Usman Jibrin talked about the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) where he once worked in the Department of Development Control.

When the Senate rose around 5.15 pm, Dr. Saraki said the Senate in the committee of the Whole considered the President's request for the screening and confirmation of ministerial nominees.

He adjourned the exercise till today. It is expected that all the nominees would be confirmed tomorrow when the 37 nominees would have been screened.

Chairman, Senate Ad-hoc Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Dino Melaye said the Senate would conclude the screening tomorrow. He said the chamber gave Lai Mohammed a red carpet reception because he is a prominent APC member.

Melaye also asked the nominees unveiled yesterday to make their CVs available to facilitate their screening. He said another 10 nominees would be screened today.