Temper rose on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday during the screening of six out of the remaining 11 ministerial nominees of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Trouble started when the nominee from Akwa Ibom State, Pastor Usani Uguru, during his screening, said “God forbid” to an observation that he had a good relationship with some Peoples Democratic Party politicians as a public officer.
The nominee, a member at the Nigerian Copyright Commission, had informed the senators that he had good relationship with some politicians, including senators, in the discharge of his official responsibility.
“Are they PDP members?” a senator asked. Uguru responded, “God forbid”, twice, thus provoking the anger of the opposition senators and a point of order raised by the Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio, who is the immediate past governor of Akwa Ibom State.
Akpabio drew the attention of the Senate to the alleged rude remarks of the nominee against the PDP, stressing that the privileges and rights of his colleagues had been breached by the nominee.
The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, noted the observation of the majority leader and asked the nominee to react to the issue. The nominee apologised and the screening process continued.
Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe, also of PDP, accused the nominee of failure to declare his assets because the document was not attached to his Curriculum Vitae.
Saraki, however, intervened and informed his colleagues that all the nominees had submitted copies of their resume and that they were available in his office for confirmation.
Another PDP senator, Mao Ohuabunwa, drew the attention of the Senate to the fact that Uguru allegedly procured his tax clearance certificates on the same day, thereby creating an impression that the nominee had rushed to pay because of the screening.
Ohuabunwa said, “All the tax clearance certificates the man submitted to the Senate were obtained on the same day. Mr. Senate President, we should not ignore it. We should find out why tax clearance for a number of years were obtained and submitted to the Senate on the same day.
“I am a Christian and this was submitted by a Pastor, not a Mallam. This is not correct, it is not in order.”
Saraki also faulted the point of order raised by Ohuabunwa and ruled him out of order, while the Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, clarified that Uguru as well as other nominees could still declare their assets, either before or after their confirmation.
Another nominee, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed from Zamfara State, created another mild drama when a senator asked her to recite the National Pledge and she missed a line.
Ahmed worked in the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited and Mobile Telecommunications for about 20 years before her appointment as the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.
In place of ending the pledge with “…to be faithful, loyal and honest,” she said, “….to be loyal, faithful and honest. “ The action generated prolonged side talks among the senators.
The Osun State nominee, Prof. Adewole Folorunso, during his screening, raised the alarm that 40,000 women died annually in the country due to pregnancy related complications.
The nominee, who is the outgoing Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, also said that 800,000 children died annually in the country due to preventable diseases.
He said, “I have been in public service for over 30 years as a doctor, obstetrician, public health activist, teacher and VC of Nigeria’s premier institution, the University of Ibadan.
“I have been largely preoccupied with the repositioning of the nation’s health and education systems as a platform for human development. Our major concern is that our health indicators are worrisome.
“Over 40,000 women die during pregnancy and delivery yearly and we lose some 800,000 children from largely preventable causes every year and we are the largest contributor of HIV in new born globally.”
He lamented that women and children in Nigeria are vulnerable to infant and maternal mortality and therefore called for a conscious decision to improve the health status of our women and children and by extension the men.
He also said that the UI, where he has been as a VC for the last five years, had witnessed a massive transformation under his watch.
Adewole attributed the problem of falling standard of education in the country to consistent underfunding of the sector and pledged to make positive impact if his appointment was confirmed.
He said, “Following the prolonged ASUU strike of six months, government promised to inject funds into the university system as part of an effort to revitalise it, N1.3tn was voted for this exercise.
“I must say that the first tranche that should have been released to the universities in 2013 is all we got. And we had only N73bn. So, nothing in 2014 and nothing in 2015. We really need to follow through and make sure that the universities are well-funded, the staff are well motivated and I can assure you, being part of this system that our universities will deliver.”
He also stressed the need to address the issue of cancer in the country by setting up a National Cancer Centre without further delay.
He said, “Cancer is something that we have to deal with. We are talking about the burden of communicable diseases in Nigeria. But we are also looking at another aspect, looking at the demographic transition of this country, we are living longer, getting obese, exercising less and cancer is specifically a disease of the old age.
“When we look at this demographic transition and the rising incidence of cancer, it is on the increase for Africa. So, this country must be prepared for a potential epidemic in the coming years.”
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Temper rose on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday during the screening of six out of the remaining 11 ministerial nominees of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Trouble started when the nominee from Akwa Ibom State, Pastor Usani Uguru, during his screening, said “God forbid” to an observation that he had a good relationship with some Peoples Democratic Party politicians as a public officer.
The nominee, a member at the Nigerian Copyright Commission, had informed the senators that he had good relationship with some politicians, including senators, in the discharge of his official responsibility.
“Are they PDP members?” a senator asked. Uguru responded, “God forbid”, twice, thus provoking the anger of the opposition senators and a point of order raised by the Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio, who is the immediate past governor of Akwa Ibom State.
Akpabio drew the attention of the Senate to the alleged rude remarks of the nominee against the PDP, stressing that the privileges and rights of his colleagues had been breached by the nominee.
The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, noted the observation of the majority leader and asked the nominee to react to the issue. The nominee apologised and the screening process continued.
Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe, also of PDP, accused the nominee of failure to declare his assets because the document was not attached to his Curriculum Vitae.
Saraki, however, intervened and informed his colleagues that all the nominees had submitted copies of their resume and that they were available in his office for confirmation.
Another PDP senator, Mao Ohuabunwa, drew the attention of the Senate to the fact that Uguru allegedly procured his tax clearance certificates on the same day, thereby creating an impression that the nominee had rushed to pay because of the screening.
Ohuabunwa said, “All the tax clearance certificates the man submitted to the Senate were obtained on the same day. Mr. Senate President, we should not ignore it. We should find out why tax clearance for a number of years were obtained and submitted to the Senate on the same day.
“I am a Christian and this was submitted by a Pastor, not a Mallam. This is not correct, it is not in order.”
Saraki also faulted the point of order raised by Ohuabunwa and ruled him out of order, while the Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, clarified that Uguru as well as other nominees could still declare their assets, either before or after their confirmation.
Another nominee, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed from Zamfara State, created another mild drama when a senator asked her to recite the National Pledge and she missed a line.
Ahmed worked in the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited and Mobile Telecommunications for about 20 years before her appointment as the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.
In place of ending the pledge with “…to be faithful, loyal and honest,” she said, “….to be loyal, faithful and honest. “ The action generated prolonged side talks among the senators.
The Osun State nominee, Prof. Adewole Folorunso, during his screening, raised the alarm that 40,000 women died annually in the country due to pregnancy related complications.
The nominee, who is the outgoing Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, also said that 800,000 children died annually in the country due to preventable diseases.
He said, “I have been in public service for over 30 years as a doctor, obstetrician, public health activist, teacher and VC of Nigeria’s premier institution, the University of Ibadan.
“I have been largely preoccupied with the repositioning of the nation’s health and education systems as a platform for human development. Our major concern is that our health indicators are worrisome.
“Over 40,000 women die during pregnancy and delivery yearly and we lose some 800,000 children from largely preventable causes every year and we are the largest contributor of HIV in new born globally.”
He lamented that women and children in Nigeria are vulnerable to infant and maternal mortality and therefore called for a conscious decision to improve the health status of our women and children and by extension the men.
He also said that the UI, where he has been as a VC for the last five years, had witnessed a massive transformation under his watch.
Adewole attributed the problem of falling standard of education in the country to consistent underfunding of the sector and pledged to make positive impact if his appointment was confirmed.
He said, “Following the prolonged ASUU strike of six months, government promised to inject funds into the university system as part of an effort to revitalise it, N1.3tn was voted for this exercise.
“I must say that the first tranche that should have been released to the universities in 2013 is all we got. And we had only N73bn. So, nothing in 2014 and nothing in 2015. We really need to follow through and make sure that the universities are well-funded, the staff are well motivated and I can assure you, being part of this system that our universities will deliver.”
He also stressed the need to address the issue of cancer in the country by setting up a National Cancer Centre without further delay.
He said, “Cancer is something that we have to deal with. We are talking about the burden of communicable diseases in Nigeria. But we are also looking at another aspect, looking at the demographic transition of this country, we are living longer, getting obese, exercising less and cancer is specifically a disease of the old age.
“When we look at this demographic transition and the rising incidence of cancer, it is on the increase for Africa. So, this country must be prepared for a potential epidemic in the coming years.”
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