Khadija Abba Ibrahim, a ministerial nominee from Yobe state appeared before the senate but did not undergo screening by virtue of being the wife of Bukar Abba Ibrahim, an incumbent three-term senator and two-term former governor of Yobe state.
Like Adebayo Shittu – the other ministerial nominee screened on Tuesday – Khadija, who is herself a three-term member of the federal house of representatives, began by reading her bio.
The tone for what was to happen was set when she started by recognising the three “distinguished senators from Yobe state”, and her husband’s name was the first she mentioned, sending the upper legislative chamber into an eruption of cheers.
When she finished, Senate President Bukola saraki signified his intention to ask her a question, but said he would give another senator the chance to ask the first question, while he would ask the second.
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“And there is no better person to ask this first question than Distinguished Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim,” he added.
Standing up, Ibrahim then said: “All the elections you won, no one ever took you to the tribunal. How would you react if the senate asked you to just take a bow and go?”
After the deafening cheers that followed his question, his wife took a bow and left the chambers with an ovation that clearly meant her awaited official confirmation as a minister was a mere formality.
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Meanwhile, Shittu’s screening, which held just before hers, lasted more than an hour as he was grilled by the senate, one particular senator even going as far as asking him five long questions.
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