How dropped ministerial nominee learnt of her fate

Maryam Shetty, a ministerial nominee from Kano state, was at the Senate for screening when she got the news of being dropped.

Accompanied by some associates, the dropped nominee drove into the National Assembly Complex in a black SUV.

Dressed in a black flowing gown with a red head gear, Shetty had a sun shade on her face.

In a video, the former nominee was seen posing for photographs with some persons before being led away.

Her name was sighted on the Senate’s order paper. She was among those lined up for screening while her documents had been sent ahead.

In the end, another nominee from Kano State would face the upper legislative chamber for screening.

It was earlier reported how President Bola Ahmed Tinubu withdrew Shetty’s nomination.

In a letter addressed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio and read during plenary on Friday, the President nominated Festus Keyamo, former Minister of State for Labour and Employment, as minister.

Meanwhile, the screening of the ministerial nominees is ongoing at the senate.

Speaking Friday at 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.