The Senate yesterday approved the appointment of 45 out of the 48 ministerial nominees submitted by President Bola Tinubu.
The nominees were confirmed after the upper legislative chamber concluded the screening of the candidates yesterday evening.
However, former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufa’i, and two other nominees – Stella Okotete (Delta) and Danladi Abubakar (Taraba) – were not confirmed, as the Senate awaits security clearance about them.
The others are still awaiting security clearance, Senate President Godswill Akpabio said, after announcing the names of those approved by the senate.
Recall that a senator representing Kogi-West, Sunday Karimi, presented a petition against el-Rufa’i during his screening last week. A petition was also submitted against Okotete.
On July 27, Tinubu sent the list of nominees made up of 28 persons to the senate for screening and confirmation. Six days later, the president forwarded additional 19 names to make the total number of ministerial nominees 47.
However, on Friday, Tinubu replaced Maryam Shetty, a nominee from Kano, with Mairiga Mahmud.
