The Senate on Wednesday began work in earnest by screening some of the 43 ministerial nominees whose names President Muhammadu Buhari sent to the upper chamber.
The accompanying letter, which Senate President Ahmad Lawan read out during plenary on Tuesday, was delivered to Lawan’s house on Monday night by the Chief of Staff to the president, Mallam Abba Kyari.
The first batch of the nominees, comprising immediate past Minister of Transport, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi; former Akwa Ibom State Governor, Senator Godswill Akpabio, who was also the Minority Leader of the Eight National Assembly before his defection to the ruling All Progressives Congress APC, former Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, Senator George Akume and six others appeared before the Senate.
Eight other nominees in the second batch, who included former Minister of State for Power, Works and Housing, Mustapha Shehuri, former Legal Adviser to the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party ANPP, one of the legacy parties that formed APC, Major Gen. Bashir Magashi [rtd], former Bayelsa State Governor, Timipre Sylva and former Ekiti State Governor, Chief Adeniyi Adebayo, will take their turns today.
On Wednesdays the screening of Amaechi and others was trailed by drama and uproar.
While some of them who are former lawmakers and are covered by legislative privileges were asked to take a bow without taking questions from senators, others that are not so privileged where grilled.
But attempts to extend such an honour to Amaechi, who was speaker of Rivers State House of Assembly for eight years, met stiff opposition from the senators, especially those from his former party, the Peoples Democratic Party PDP.
The drama continue with what is going on now in the upper chamber, the Senate.
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