EXTRA: Senate asks ‘loyal’ ministerial nominee to ‘take a bow and go’

Abubakar Aliyu, ministerial nominee from Yobe state, was given a preferential treatment during the senate screening on Thursday.

Shortly after he appeared before the senators, the nominee, who is the immediate past deputy governor of Yobe, was asked to “take a bow and go”, a treatment accorded former lawmakers.

Although Aliyu has no legislative background, he was exempted from questions because the upper legislative chamber “found him loyal”.

After introducing himself to the lawmakers, Kabiru Gaya, senator representing Kano north, moved the motion for the nominee not to field questions.

James Manager, senator representing Delta south, also concurred with Gaya, saying Aliyu’s brother is a former senator.

Senate President Ahmad Lawan said he is proud of Aliyu, who hails from the same state with him

Lawan described the nominee as “loyal and competent.”

“[He is] loyal, committed and competent. He has been doing well and he followed the footsteps of the former governor. We are proud of our nominee.”

Thereafter, Aliyu took a bow and exited the chamber.

Bashir Magashi, a retired major-general, was also screened by the lawmakers.

While responding to questions from the senators, Magashi said if appointed defence minister he would enhance the structure of the military.

“In Nigeria today, there is what we call the command structure, the command structure is now seen as a witness,” he said.

“The military is always ready to acknowledge performance, we don’t want to always hear that we have not performed.

“The theatre of war, I think we encourage it because every day you find one problem either for north-east or the central or anywhere, then we need troops to cover that area, we have always disseminated all our forces and I don’t think the current structure shows the true reflection of our requirements.”