Senate yesterday, commenced screening of President Goodluck Jonathan’s ministerial nominees after meeting behind closed doors for over two hours.
Rather than commence plenary, members went into an executive session and upon resumption, screened only four of the eight nominees listed on the Order Paper.
The ministerial nominees screened yesterday were Senator Patricia Naomi Akwashiki (Nasarawa State); Professor Nicholas Akise Ada (Benue State), Colonel Augustine Akobundu (Abia State) as well as Mr. Fidelis Nwankwo from Ebonyi State.
Shortly after progress report from the Committee of the Whole, Senate President, David Mark adjourned plenary till next Tuesday.
Checks by Daily Sun revealed that behind closed doors, All Progressives Congress (APC) senators insisted that the Lagos State ministerial nominee and former Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, should explain his role in the audio tape related to the August 2014 Ekiti State governorship poll.
The ‘bow and go tradition’ was accorded Senator Akwashiki, who was first on the list of the ministerial nominees that were screened yesterday.
It was also gathered that deferment of the screening of Obanikoro as a minister was to enable a Lagos court rule on a case before it tomorrow and because screening him yesterday would have been subjudice.
Meanwhile, one of the screened nominees, Prof. Ada, has stressed the need for Nigeria to re-visit the Teachers Training Education System with a view to laying a solid foundation for educational careers of Nigeria.
Arguing that a solid house is based on a solid foundation, he asserted that “if the foundation is not strong enough, the superstructure cannot be strong” and blamed poor quality of education in the country on lack of qualified teachers.
On his part, retired Col. Akobundu canvassed restoration of communication gadgets laced toll-gates in the highways, as a means of checking security challenges in the country and strengthening of maritime security to check menace of oil theft in the high seas.
