Senate, on Wednesday at plenary, screened and confirmed all the seven ministerial nominees sent by President Muhammadu Buhari on June 21.
Buhari had in a letter that conveyed the names of the ministerial nominees to the Senate, explained that the confirmation request was in accordance with the provisions of Section 147 subsection 2 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that out of the seven nominees screened and confirmed by the Senate, three were excused from taking questions from lawmakers.
This was because of their legislative background and experience, in line with the tradition of the Senate, while four of the nominees answered questions from the lawmakers.
The nominees excused from questions at the screening were Goodluck Nana Opiah (Imo), Umar Ibrahim El-Yakub (Kano) and Ademola Adewole Adegoroye (Ondo).
Those who responded to questions included Henry Ikechukwu Ikoh (Abia) Umana Okon Umana (Akwa Ibom), Ekumankama Joseph Nkama (Ebonyi) and Odum Odi (Rivers).
Responding to questions earlier, Ikoh, a nominee from Abia, promised to contribute to development of the nation’s economy, if confirmed, given his background in the private sector as an industrialist.
On how jobs could be created for the teeming unemployed youths, Ikoh re-emphasised the need for the establishment of modular refineries, to refine the nation’s crude oil locally.
This, he said, would help create more jobs and ultimately grow the economy further.
He also advocated the deepening of partnership between the Federal Government and the private sector, to create more industries.
This, he said, would also result in the creation of jobs.
He said there was a need to ensure that graduates of tertiary institutions possess technical knowledge that would enable them to become Job creators, especially in the local communities.
