The Senate confirmed the list of ministerial nominees on Monday, but the name of the immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai, was conspicuously missing.
This has raised concerns among Nigerians about why his name was excluded from the list.
Also missing on the list was the name of Senator Abubakar Danlandi from Taraba State and former Nexim Bank senior staff Stella Oketette (Delta State).
After the screening exercise, which took place about them a week, the Senate approved and confirmed a total of 45 out of the 48 nominees sent by President Bola Tinubu.
The PUNCH reports that a couple of petitions, including those sent by Senator Sunday Karimi (APC, Kogi West) were presented against the former governor during the screening.
During the ministerial screening, the senator representing Kogi West moved against the former Kaduna State governor.
After El-Rufai’s presentations, Karimi stood up and told the chamber that he had a petition written against the former governor over the issue of insecurity in Southern Kaduna.
Karimi then laid the petition before Jibrin Barau, the deputy senate president, who was presiding over the screening exercise at the time.
Also, The PUNCH reported that there was a petition against Dalandi about a court judgment restricting him from holding public office for ten years.
Copies of some petitions against Okotette in the Public Space also confirmed several petitions against the former Nexim Bank, Okotete, including non-disclosure of assets to the Code of Conduct Bureau.
