By Kolawole Ojebisi
The newly appointed ministers are currently appearing before the senate for a screening exercise.
This exercise, for those cleared, will transform them from minister designates to substantive ministers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
The confirmation hearing is being held on the floor of the red legislative chamber.
The New Diplomat had reported that the screening was supposed to have been held on Tuesday, but the upper legislative chamber shifted it to Wednesday (today) to allow all the seven nominees “conclude their documentation”.
Last week, President Bola Tinubu sacked five ministers and asked the senate to confirm seven new ministerial nominees.
Bianca Odinaka Odumegu-Ojukwu was appointed as minister of state foreign affairs and Jumoke Oduwole was assigned to the ministry of industry, trade and investment.
Nentawe Yilwatda was appointed to replace the suspended Betta Edu as the minister of humanitarian affairs and poverty reduction while Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi was named the new minister of labour and employment.
While Idi Mukhtar Maiha was appointed as the minister of livestock development, Yusuf Abdullahi Ata was named as the minister of state, housing and urban development.
The ministerial nominees, therefore, are making their last gasp attempt towards their official confirmation as ministers.
Though this stage is for formality’s sake, on rare occasions nominees have stumbled on the red chamber’s floor and failed to scale the last hurdle towards being confirmed.
Former governor El-rufai of Kaduna State, former deputy governor of Taraba State Abubakar Danladi. and a ministerial nominees from Delta State, Stella Okotete are casualties of this exercise in recent memory.
These three politicans were denied confirmation by the Senate at the inception of the Tinubu administration.
