Nasir El-Rufai, a former governor of Kaduna State, Sani Abubakar Danladi, a former deputy governor of Taraba State, and Stella Okotete, a former governor of Delta State, were all nominated to serve on the proposed Federal Executive Council (FEC). However, the Senate decided yesterday not to confirm their nominations.
President Bola Tinubu’s other 45 ministerial nominees were approved.
The three individuals, whose names were withheld, were awaiting security clearance, according to yesterday’s session’s conclusion, according to Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
The names of 28 nominees were submitted by Tinubu to the Senate on July 27, 2023, which was the end of the 60-day window allowed by the Constitution.
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A nominee from Kano, Mariam Shetty, was replaced, and he later sent another set of 19 and then two more.
Nine former governors and active National Assembly members are included in the group who have been confirmed.
Additionally, it supported Bunmi Tunji-Ojo’s nomination as the Ondo State nominee and current National Assembly member, despite allegations made last week that he had falsified his NYSC certificate.
Ojo was one of the young people identified and proposed by the President, according to some senators who spoke to Senate Correspondents on his behalf.
In the ninth assembly, Tunji-Ojo, who served as chair of the house committee on the NDDC, oversaw an investigation that resulted in numerous reforms for the Commission and forced the Buhari administration to create a new NDDC board.
Festus Keyamo, a former minister of state for labour and employment whose nomination was previously rebuffed by lawmakers for alleged improper behaviour, is also listed among the nominees who have been officially accepted.
However, sources confirmed that el-Rufai might have been dropped due to a number of petitions against him, including ones regarding security and claims of “toxic comments” he allegedly made in public that were against “national interest.”
According to a source, there are also rumours that he is unreliable and only accepted the ministerial position to advance his presidential campaign in 2027. He is also thought to be someone who will work against Tinubu’s bid for a second term. Tinubu shouldn’t put his trust in him because he is not a dependable politician.
However, some of President Tinubu’s “wise men” may have been intimidated and concerned about him because of his competence and ability to complete any task he was given, despite their best efforts.
Investigations into Okotete’s situation revealed that she may have become entangled in a power struggle between Chief James Ibori, a former governor of Delta State, and some APC leaders in Lagos who backed her nomination.
According to reports, Ibori insisted on David Edevbie, a former governorship candidate for the Delta State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the most recent election, as the state’s nominee for a ministerial position, despite the petitioners’ efforts to block her nomination by citing her NYSC and higher education certificates.
Due to Edevbie’s loss in the primary to Sheriff Oborevwori, the incumbent governor, Ibori and Edevbie left the PDP and began working for Ovie Omo Agege, an APC candidate who lost the election. Agege was a former senate deputy president.
The source said: “Although Okotete’s certificates are now a problem, Benson Idahosa University has confirmed that she attended the school; however, NEXIM Bank, where she worked, has some outstanding issues that need to be resolved. Probably Edevbie will take her place.
Additionally, like Festus Keyamo, a ministerial nominee who was recently confirmed and the governor of the state, she is a senator from the Delta Central Senatorial District.
