The Senate on Wednesday started screening of the 43-man ministerial nominees sent to the National Assembly for confirmation by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The first nominee to be screened is Ikechukwu Ogah from Abia State.
During his screening, Ogah said that the nation does not need to depend on oil in creating job opportunities for the teeming population.
To him, developing the agricultural sector will also help reduce the unemployment rate in the country.
He said: “We don’t need to depend on only oil. Yes, oil is a cash-cow. But I believe that if we develop our agricultural sector, we can equally develop, create jobs for our teeming youths.”
When it came to his turn, George Akume was asked to take a bow and go as Senator Emmanuel Oker-Jev who defeated Akume, moved that the Senate tradition of bow and go for former senators be respected.
Thereafter, former Senator Godswill Akpabio took his turn.
Earlier, a senator representing Abuja Federal Capital Territory, Philip Aduda, raised a constitutional point of order at the start of plenary to kick against the exclusion of FCT in the appointments.
He noted that the constitution stipulates that the FCT be treated as one of the states and each state shall have at least one minister; and urged the Senate to pass the message across to the executive as no nominee from FCT was appointed.
Also, Dino Melaye, a Senator representing Kogi West Senatorial district, expressed worries about the same issue.
He said the matter is a constitutional point of duty, not an appeal by the Senate.
