Senator Nwokocha seeks the suspension of ministerial screening for Senior Advocate Festus Keyamo in the Senate.
Nwokocha’s motion was seconded by Abaribe, but Senate President Godswill Akpabio subjected it to a voice vote. The red chamber erupted, leading to a heated session, with Opeyemi Bamidele calling for a closed-door session.
Nwokocha accused Keyamo of disrespecting the 9th National Assembly and corruption, citing his involvement in a Special Public Works programme. Keyamo was invited to explain the programme during Buhari’s administration, but he refused.
The programme, supervised by Keyamo’s ministry, was allocated N52 billion in 2020 to recruit 1,000 youths from 774 local governments. Complaints over the programme arose, leading to a Senate Public Accounts Committee investigation.
Keyamo, the last nominee from President Bola Tinubu’s 48-man list, appeared before the Senate after not being on the President’s first and second lists as Mariya Mahmoud was removed last Friday to create space for the former minister to be amongst the new ministerial nominee.
Keyamo thanked Tinubu for the ministerial nomination, expressing hope of making the Federal Executive Council the new President.
