President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has nominated former Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Mr Festus Keyamo as minister. The president also withdrew the ministerial nomination of Maryam Shetty from Kano and replaced her with Dr Mariya Mahmud. Tinubu announced this is a letter addressed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio and read during plenary on Friday.
In a related development, during the resumption of ministerial screening, the Senate justified the “bow-and-go” privilege accorded members of parliament who appear before the Senate for confirmation of appointments.
Senate Leader, Michael Opeyemi Bamidele, said since the Red Chamber know the antecedents and capacity of parliamentarians who are nominated as ministers, it would be a sheer waste of time to subject them to thorough grilling.
He said this practice of ‘bow and go’ privilege extended to legislators is a global practice, not limited to Nigerian parliament.
“It’s a sheer waste of time to subject parliamentarians to thorough grilling during ministerial screening because we know them, their records, antecedents and capacity. It’s a global best practice. It is important members of the public know this,” Bamidele said.
