During the Tuesday plenary, Senate President GodsWill Akpabio announced that President Bola Tinubu had selected Abbas Balarabe to take over as a minister following the departure of former Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai. Additionally, Dr. Jamila Ibrahim was nominated as Minister of Youths and Ayodele Olawande as Minister of State for Youths.
The PUNCH reported in August that El-Rufai’s name was missing from the list of the ministerial nominees confirmed by the Senate.
The Senate after the screening exercise which took place about them a week approved and confirmed a total of 45 out of the 48 nominees sent by President Bola Tinubu.
A couple of petitions including those sent by Senator Sunday Karimi (APC, Kogi West) were presented against the former governor during the screening.
The lawmaker representing Kogi West, during the ministerial screening, moved against the former Kaduna State governor.
Karimi, after El-Rufai’s presentations, stood up and told the chamber that he had a petition written against the former governor over the issue of insecurity in Southern Kaduna.
He said, “Your performance in any office you find yourself in the country has been outstanding. In the Bureau of Public Enterprises, your record is there, in FCT as a minister, your record is there, and as two-time governor of Kaduna state, you did well.”
“And I think that the petition has to be considered in this screening exercise.”
During the screening process, Karimi presented a petition to Jibrin Barau, the deputy senate president who was overseeing the session. Barau reminded Karimi that nominees have the opportunity to explain and demonstrate their qualifications before being confirmed and approved.
Some senators praised el-Rufai’s competence for the ministerial position, including Kaduna North’s representative, Ibrahim Kalid, who stated that he and his colleagues from the state, as well as the residents, support el-Rufai’s nomination. However, during the plenary session, the Senate President did not accept the petition against el-Rufai and noted that several petitions were submitted against other ministerial nominees.