El-Rufai, two other nominees fail Senate confirmation, as Keyamo tenders apology 

The National Assembly on Monday declined confirmation of the  former Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir EL-Rufai and two other nominees due to petitions received against their nominations.

Out of the 48 nominations for ministerial positions that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu sent to the Senate, 45 have been confirmed including Festus Keyamo SAN.

Two other candidates including Stella Okotete (Delta), and Danladi Umar (Taraba) are those who have not been confirmed, because according to Senate President Godswill Obot Akpabio, they have not passed security checks.

However before Keyamo, the Delta State ministerial nominee, got the approval of the Senators, he tendered unreserved apology to the Senate over his failure to appear before the 9th National Assembly when he served as Minister of State for Labour and Productivity under then President Muhammadu Buhari.

Kayemo news had earlier reported that the Senate on Monday witnessed a rowdy session over Keyamo’s screening which led the upper Chamber to suspend sitting and went into executive session.

Immediately after the session, Akpabio moved to the Villa to see President Bola Tinubu. Thereafter, the screening session continued at about 4 pm.

Keyamo said, “ I apologise to the Senate. I am sorry, I am sorry and I am sorry.”

He explained that the program that led to his being summoned was not executed by the ministry, adding that, the account was handled by the World Bank. “So, we, the head of the agencies, never saw one kobo. We only generated the list and the money was paid directly to the people’s account.

“Every detail of that account was captured and kept in a file. All the records of the beneficiaries and their data are in the ministry.”