On Monday, the Nigerian Senate concluded its screening of 48 minister hopefuls nominated by President Bola Tinubu.

The last leg of the exercise was characterised by some theatrics. The screening of Festus Keyamo, SAN, initially caused a stir among the senators, leading to a suspension of the process. In the intervening hours, Senator Godswill Akpabio, the Senate President, led a delegation to meet with Tinubu.

While the purpose of the short visit might not have been unconnected with the uproar about Keyamo’s nomination, the Senate leadership has not commented on the details of its interactions with the president.

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The controversy was eventually resolved when Keyamo apologised for failing to honour the Senate’s summons over a programme he supervised as Minister of State for Labour and Employment.

Subsequently, the Senate confirmed 45 potential ministers out of the 48 submitted by Tinubu. The three unconfirmed appointees are Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai (Kaduna), Stella Erhuvwuoghene Okotete (Delta) and Senator Abubakar Danladi (Taraba). The Senate President stated that the nominees had not been cleared by the relevant security outfits.

Security clearance involves background checks on both private and public records of any individual by relevant intelligence security bodies in the country.

ABUBAKAR DANLADI: CERTIFICATE FORGER

Danladi is a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Taraba State. The party sponsored him as its governorship candidate in 2019 in the state. It, however, turned out that a senior secondary school certificate purportedly issued by the West African Examinations Board (WAEC), which he presented to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), was forged.

A federal high court sitting in Jalingo disqualified him from participating in the contest, but he succeeded in obtaining a stay of execution and this enabled him to participate in the election. After the election, the Court of Appeal upheld the judgement of the lower court against Danladi.

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Dissatisfied, Danladi sought to overturn the judgement at the Supreme Court. Unfortunately, the apex court still affirmed the Federal High Court’s judgement in July 2021.

Danladi denied the existence of the court judgement barring him from holding any public office for 10 years starting from 2019, saying it was the handiwork of his political enemies.

STELLA ERHUVWUOGHENE OKOTETE

Okotete had a smooth time fielding questions from the federal lawmakers on August 1. The Benson Idahosa University product might not have had any premonition that her confirmation would be stalled.

One reason impeding Okotete’s confirmation could be a petition submitted to the Senate President and the Senate Leader on July 28 by Juryman Associate Chambers, a law firm based in Lagos State.

The petition, which was obtained by FIJ, stated that an Abuja federal high court was still hearing a lawsuit, marked FHC/ABJ/C8/2233/2023, filed against Okotete.

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According to the petition, Okotete is alleged to have “serial fraudulent misrepresentations, no NYSC records, false information in respect of her CV on appointment as Delta Government director as Millennium Development, no accurate records, lack of prerequisite qualifications and deceitful withholding of CBN’s statutory position, obligations and duties as the executive director of the Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM)”.

The petition also cited a decision of the Senate to remove Okotete from her position as an executive director at NEXIM.

NASIR ELRUFAI

While we could not pinpoint what could have stalled el-Rufai’s confirmation, FIJ had earlier reported that Senator Sunday Karimi from Kogi West Senatorial District presented a petition against the former Kaduna State Governor during his screening.

The petition, according to Karimi, touched on the unity and harmony of the country.

READ ALSO: Akpabio Prevents El-Rufai From Responding to Petition During Ministerial Screening

A report by Sahara Reporters, however, quoted some sources as saying that Nuhu Ribadu, the National Security Adviser, advised the Senate against confirming el-Rufai, Okotete and Danladi.

At press time, the questions against these three nominees had not been resolved. Interestingly, all of them were on the first list sent to the legislators on July 27. Any decision to drop Okotete may hit female representation in the current government.