Senate also adjourns for Sallah break, resumes July 19
By Emma Ogbuehi
The Senate, on Wednesday, screened and confirmed the seven ministerial nominees whose names were sent last week by President Muhammadu Buhari for confirmation as Minister-designates.
Those screened and confirmed as minister-designates include Henry Ikechukwu Ikoh (Abia), Umana Okon Umana (Akwa-Ibom), and Ekumankama Joseph Nkama (Ebonyi).
Others are Goodluck Nana Opiah (Imo), Umar Ibrahim El-Yakub (Kano), Ademola Adewole Adegoroye (Ondo), and Udi Odum (Rivers).
While fielding questions from lawmakers, the first nominee, Ikechukwu Ikoh, said in tackling the issue of job creation, efforts must be made to grant operational licenses to operators of modular refineries in the country.
Another nominee from Akwa-Ibom State, Umana Okon Umana, who is the Managing Director of the Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority, underscored the need for Nigeria to step up its production capacity so as to boost foreign exchange earnings and reduce the country’s reliance on importation.
Ekumankama Joseph Nkama, on his part, admonished young Nigerians to tap into new areas of investment, so as to foster self-reliance and productivity, particularly in the country’s trade sector.
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On the lingering strike action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Nkama called on the federal government and ASUU to reach a compromise.
He also asked the National Assembly to provide additional funding for the educational sector, so as to meet some of the needs of the union.
He said, “there will be the need for compromise. For a very long time ASUU has been sticking to their guns that all the agreements reached earlier must be implemented.
“And we know that from the same source – the same national purse – there are several contending interest seeking for attention.
“My advice will be that federal government and ASUU will have to come to a compromise, and through this, we would be able to solve the issue of ASUU strike once and for all.
“I know the importance of budgetary provision. I want to appeal to the Senate that when the budget is being made for the coming year, there will be adequate provision for the education sector, so that some of these needs that the ASUU members are asking for as a union will be met.”
Lending his voice on the need for an end to the ASUU strike, Ademola Adewole Adegoroye, said the action by the union is against interest of Nigerian students, adding that more effort must be made by government to find a lasting solution to same.
Goodluck Nana Opiah, a former member of the House of Representatives, was asked by the chamber to take a bow, in accordance with its tradition of extending such privilege to past members of the National Assembly.
Umar Ibrahim El-Yakub, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (House of Representatives), said when sworn in as a member of the Federal Executive Council, he would sustain and consolidate on the harmonious working relationship between the Executive and National Assembly.
In another development, the Senate adjourned plenary to enable it proceed on the Sallah break.
The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, accordingly, announced July 19, 2022, as resumption date.
The Senate, before embarking on the three-week recess, forwarded President Muhammadu Buhari’s request for the confirmation of Mohammed Bello as Chairman of the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission to the Committee on National Planning.
It also passed the Federal Medical Centres (Establishment) Bill, 2022, after re-committal to the Committee of the Whole for consideration and passage.
The Deputy Senate Leader, Ajayi Boroffice (APC, Ondo North), who sponsored the motion for re-committal, recalled that the bill was passed by the National Assembly and forwarded to President Buhari for assent.
According to him, some fundamental issues which required fresh legislative action by both houses of the National Assembly emerged after critical analysis of the bill.
He added that a Technical Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives and Directorate of Legal Services met and worked on the bill.
The Senate, while relying on order 1(b) and order 52(6) of the Senate Standing Order, 2022 as amended, rescinded its decision on the bill as passed and re-committed same to the Committee of the Whole for re-consideration and passage.