The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, was in the Presidential Villa on Monday after a heated session in the red chamber which resulted in a motion to suspend the screening of ministerial nominee Festus Keyamo from Delta State.
The motion was seconded by Enyinnaya Abaribe, a senator from Abia-South Senatorial District.
The motion to suspend the screening was initiated by Darlington Nwokocha, a senator representing Abia Central Senatorial District.
Nwokocha had accused Keyamo of disrespecting the 9th National Assembly and leveling allegations of corruption against the previous administration.
Keyamo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, previously served as the Minister of State for Labour and Productivity during ex-President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
Nwokocha claimed that Keyamo was summoned to clarify matters pertaining to a Special Public Works programme during that time but failed to honour the invitation.
The programme was overseen by the National Directorate of Employment, which fell under Keyamo’s ministry.
However, events turned sour when Darlington Nwokocha ( LP, Abia Central), moved the motion requesting the suspension of the nominee’s screening.
Nwokocha reminded Keyamo of how he insulted the lawmakers from both chambers during his tenure as a minister.
He also brought to the fore corruption charges levelled against the nominee and how he ignored the National Assembly summons in 2020 over the employment scheme of 774,000 Nigerians recruited for the special public works programme.
Nwokocha then said, “I move that we suspend forthwith screening of the nomination and wait until when this is cleared.”
The motion was thereafter seconded by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, (APGA, Abia South).
Having been seconded, the Senate President, GodsWill Akpabio, put the motion to a voice vote after the first, and this time, the lawmakers responded in a disorderly manner, collectively shouting “no” and “yes”.
This argument made some lawmakers call for division, a decision which once taken might water down the power of the Senate President.
The division is a parliamentary term that means that lawmakers physically take sides with any of the votes either in favour of Yay or Nay.
The Senate President, who was visibly troubled, then stood up and called for order.
According to the Senate Standing Orders, when the Senate President stands, every other lawmaker must sit.
Having restored order in the house, Akpabio called for a closed-door session and the lawmakers adjourned the plenary till 3:30 pm.
In April, 2020, the Federal Government approved the recruitment of 774,000 Nigerians on a special public works programme, with the mandate of 1000 people per LGA, a programme implemented by the National Directorate of Employment as part of the fiscal stimulus measures adopted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The project led to a brawl between Keyamo and the National Assembly as he was forced to leave the Senate after he refused to settle the issue behind closed doors when he appeared at the Red Chamber in June of the same year.
The lawmakers alleged that their constituents did not benefit from the scheme.
However, Keyamo responded by accusing the lawmakers of trying to blackmail him and hijack the SPW exercise, adding that the “beneficiaries are not from the moon.”
This and other infractions allegedly committed by Keyamo during his time as minister of State for Labour and Employment have been a major cause of friction between the nominee and the lawmakers.
