Tunji Wusu –
The last list of ministerial nominees has been forwarded to the chamber by Senator Godswill Akpabio, President of the Senate, and former Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Honorable Femi Gbajiabiamila.
The list includes the eleven states that were still denied a ministerial position.
At 3:15 p.m., the Senate used its Order 12(i) to permit Gbajiabiamila to present the list and enter the chamber.
Lateef Fagbemi, a ministerial nominee from Kwara, was waiting for senators to screen him before the chief of staff entered the chamber.
The vetting of the ministerial nominees that President Bola Tinubu submitted to the Senate on Thursday of last week has now entered its third day.
Last Monday, President Tinubu sent the Senate twenty-eight nominations for review.
In the same way that it is scheduled to address 14 nominations today, the Senate vetted fourteen of the twenty-eight candidates on Monday.
In today’s Order Paper, there were five nominees nominated for screening. They are Professor Ali Pate Bauchi, Dele Alake (Ekiti), Muhammad Idris (Niger), Doris Anite Uzoka (Imo), and Lateef Fagbemi SAN (Kwara).
Dele Alake, the first to speak to the senators, requested the National Assembly to alter current laws to regulate social media in order to prevent the spread of false and misleading information. He also added that social media regulation should be reinforced.
During his screening process on Wednesday in Abuja, Alake, who had expressed grave worries about the improper use of social media in Nigeria, vehemently lamented the abuse of the site.
While acknowledging social media’s benefits for spreading knowledge, Alake warned that its drawbacks might destabilize the nation if left unchecked, adding that their negative effects could harm any morally upright community.
Therefore, he urged the legislative branch of government to alter current laws to control social media in order to stop the spread of false and misleading information.
Alake further emphasized the need to put the federation’s laws to the test in order to determine their effectiveness and competence, urging victims of libel and defamation not to hesitate in using the full force of the law to offenders when there are violations by whatever means, be it broadcast or print.
As Fagbemi is currently being questioned by the Senators, Muhammad Idris, a resident of Niger State, has also been screened thus far today.
