There were a series of dramatic moments on the floor of the Senate on Wednesday as 10 ministerial nominees appeared for screening.
While some of the nominees were given special privileges to leave without answering questions, being former lawmakers, others were subjected to grilling.
Those who have appeared so far for screening are Uchechukwu Ogah (Abia), Goodwill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), George Akume (Benue), Ogbonnaya Onu (Ebonyi), Emeka Nwajuaba (Imo), Olorunnimbe Mamora (Lagos), Olamilekan Adegbite (Ogun), Adamu Adamu, Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers) and Sharon Ikeazor (Anambra).
First to appear before the Senate was Uchechukwu Ogah, who threw his weight behind the official exchange rate of N305 to $1.
He also called for the diversification of the economy, with emphasis on agriculture.
He also made a case for ‘guided deregulation’ of the petroleum downstream sector as a means of boosting foreign exchange.
Ogah said, “If you decide to deregulate the Nigerian petroleum sector, especially the downstream, it must be a guided deregulation.
The nominee asked the 9th National Assembly to pass the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill.
He said, “Once the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill is passed, it will help in ensuring that investors come into the country.”
Ogah said assured Nigerians that if given the opportunity, the four refineries in Nigeria would work.
Ogah said it was not the responsibility of the government to create jobs but to create a favourable environment for investors to create jobs.
When he appeared, Ogbonnaya Onu said the multi-billion dollar Nigerian satellite orbit said to have disappeared from the space had been replaced by the Chinese government at no cost to the Federal Government.
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