Festus Keyamo, the former Minister of State for Labour and Employment and a ministerial nominee, publicly apologized to the Senate on 7th August 2023 for his perceived disrespect towards the ninth Assembly.
Keyamo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), expressed regret for his previous actions when appearing before the Senate for his ministerial nomination.
During the session, Keyamo revealed that he had already extended his apologies to Senator Godiya Akwashiki, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Labour, Employment, and Productivity, and his counterpart in the House of Representatives in the ninth Senate.
He said, “I apologize to the Senate. I am sorry, I am sorry, and I am sorry. Regarding that program, the account was handled by the World Bank. So, we, the head of the agencies, never saw one kobo. We only generated the list, and the money was paid directly to the people’s accounts.
“Every detail of that account was captured and kept in a file. All the records of the beneficiaries and their data are in the ministry.”
Earlier, Senator Darlington Nwokocha, representing Abia Central under the Labour Party (LP), moved a motion to suspend Keyamo’s screening. Nwokocha reminded Keyamo of his past disrespectful conduct towards lawmakers and highlighted corruption charges against the nominee.
Moreover, Nwokocha raised the Keyamo’s failure to respond to the National Assembly summons 2020 regarding the employment scheme that recruited 774,000 Nigerians for the special public works program.
Following Nwokocha’s motion, the Senate session became rowdy, but Senate President GodsWill Akpabio restored order. The Senate subsequently went into a closed-door session to address the situation. After a three-hour break, Keyamo returned and apologized to the lawmakers.
It was reported that Senate President Akpabio visited the Villa immediately after the closed-door meeting, indicating the seriousness of the matter. When the plenary resumed, Keyamo’s apologies seemed to have made an impact, diffusing the tense atmosphere within the Red Chamber.
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