Today’s ministerial screening a pitiful joke – Ex-Minister, Fani-Kayode

Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode has described the now concluded Ministerial Screening by the 9th Senate as a pitiful joke.

He said the days when the Senate had within its ranks, great intellectuals who took ministerial nominees to task were gone, and that what is obtained now is mere “smile, show your face and bow and go.”

“When I was nominated to be a Minister by OBJ (President Olusegun Obasanjo) 13 years ago in 2006 I was screened by the Senate for no less than two hours and thirty gruelling and very difficult minutes on live television,” Fani-Kayode said via his twitter handle @realFFK.

“There is no question that they did not ask me and there is none that I did not answer. In those days days the Senate had great men and powerful intellectuals in its ranks.

“What we see today in the name of Ministerial screening is a pitiful joke. “Smile, show your teeth, bow and go” is NOT screening: it is a crass display of comic relief which is far below the Senate.”

The Senate on Tuesday, concluded the ministerial screening with all 43 nominees confirmed ministers.

Speaking at the end of the exercise, Senate President, Ahmad Lawan thanked his colleagues for their dedication, noting that “the Senate has demonstrated that we ready to work for Nigeria.

“We have shown that Nigerians have a senate that is prepared to take Nigeria to the next level.”

He warned, however, that whereas the Senate would not be frivolous, it would be firm with its oversight while calling on the ministers to be sure to appear when called upon to appear before the National Assembly.

Advertisement