On Tuesday, there was uproar in the Senate as the screening of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s ministerial nominees continued, with the appearance of Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai.
Upon introducing himself, some senators argued that El-Rufai should be given the privilege of ‘bow and go,’ which is accorded to former governors and ministers already screened, exempting them from questioning by the senators.
Several senators praised El-Rufai for his enviable record of achievements in his public service career. However, Senator Sunday Karimi from Kogi State disrupted the proceedings by raising a brown envelope, claiming that there is a petition against El-Rufai concerning the insecurity in Southern Kaduna during his leadership.
The comment by Senator Karimi led to rowdiness and unease in the red chamber. Nevertheless, Senate President Godswill Akpabio refused to allow Karimi to read the petition.
Following the disruption, other senators directed questions to El-Rufai regarding the challenges in the power sector. El-Rufai explained that President Bola Tinubu aims to eradicate power outages in the country within the next seven years. He stated his commitment to working with stakeholders to deliver on this promise if appointed to oversee the sector.
El-Rufai emphasized the need to address transmission and distribution issues, citing that the country has an installed capacity of 13,000 megawatts but can only transmit 5,000 megawatts at a time.
Regarding Nigeria’s power challenges, El-Rufai identified ownership of power distribution companies, injection of fresh capital, and amendment of sector laws as crucial issues to tackle.
After answering the questions, El-Rufai attempted to respond to the petition raised by Senator Karimi. However, the Senate President intervened, stating that it is not the appropriate place to consider petitions. He assured that the petitions would be referred to relevant authorities, noting that there have been other petitions against different nominees.
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