Senate Tragedy: Tinubu ministerial nominee faints, journalist dies

The National Assembly was thrown into commotion and tragedy on Wednesday, October 4, when President Bola Tinubu's ministerial nominee, Abbas Balarabe, collapsed and fainted during Senate screening.

President Tinubu forwarded the name of Balarabe to the Senate for screening and confirmation as a minister representing Kaduna State and as a replacement for Nasir El-Rufai, the former governor of the state, who the Senate rejected over security concerns, The Punch reported.

About 15 minutes into the screening session, Balarabe fainted while standing on the podium. Soon after, he ended introducing himself to the Senator, and the house was thrown into pandemonium.

Godswill Akpabio, the Senate president, then shouted that he should be given sugar and water and ordered journalists and cameramen to stop the recording. At the same time, the doctors attended to him with their first aides.

Yemi Adaramodu, the spokesperson of the Senate, later told journalists that Balarabe was confirmed as a minister by the lawmaker because he had passed all the necessary things that the Senate had asked him.

Details of Senate journalist that died on Wednesday

In a similar event, a journalist covering the Senate for Tribune Newspaper, Tijani Adeyemi, died of cardiac arrest in one of the shuttles of the National Assembly.

Adeyemu boarded one of the shuttles from the popular Mopol Gate at about 10 a.m. When he got to the checkpoint, it was discovered that he was no longer breathing.

Efforts to resuscitate him were futile, and he was pronounced dead after being rushed to the Secretary General of the Federation clinic.