From Victor Osula, Abuja
For failing to answer the summons of the Senate when he was Minister of State for Labour and Employment, ministerial nominee, Festus Keyamo was heckled by Senators during screening on Monday, thereby forcing the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio to ask for a closed-door session after securing a vote from members.
Senate Minority Whip, Darlington Nwokocha, set the state for the uproar when he raised a motion, urging the Senate to suspend Keyamo’s screening as a minister.
According to the lawmaker, Keyamo had ignored a summons by the 9th Senate when he was invited to give an account of his role in the execution of Public Works meant to employ 774000 Nigerians across the country under the past administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
That programme, overseen by the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), was under Keyamo’s ministry and aimed to allocate N52 billion in 2020 to recruit 1,000 youths from each of the 774 local governments, providing them with a stipend of N20,000 for a three-month period.
The programme elicited complaints from constituents who alleged that they had not received any benefits, prompting the Senate Public Account Committee to initiate an investigation.
Nwokocah’s motion, however, degenerated into an uproar at the Upper Chamber when it was put into a vote.
To further resolve the controversy, Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, invoked Senate’s Order and dissolved into Executive Session.
At the time of filing this report, the Red Chamber had dissolved into executive session after it temporarily stepped down Keyamo’s screening.
