Today, the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs started looking over the career ambassadorial nominees that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu sent to the red chamber for approval.
At the National Assembly Complex in Abuja, there was a small drama during the screening when one of the nominees, Emmanuel Adeyemi, couldn’t name all three senators from his home state of Ekiti.
According to Daily Trust, the committee members said the development was embarrassing and unacceptable.
Adeyemi, who is the deputy director of the Office of the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, first impressed the committee with his academic and diplomatic background, which included working in Hong Kong and France, where he received a PhD.
But things changed quickly when Adeyemi tried to recognize only two senators from his state. He accurately named Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele (APC, Ekiti Central) and Senator Yemi Adaramodu (APC, Ekiti South), but when asked to name the third senator, he froze.
He was visibly agitated and had trouble remembering Senator Cyril Fasuyi (Ekiti North), which caused parliamentarians to mumble as a member of his entourage tried to covertly Google the missing name.
Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong (Cross River South) spoke out against the mistake, calling it a sign of a bigger worry about how ready people are to run for public office.
Senators Adams Oshiomhole (APC, Edo North) and Seriake Dickson (PDP, Bayelsa West) agreed with him. Senator Yunus Akintunde, who was standing in for Senate Leader Bamidele, asked for leniency, though.
Along with Erelu Angela Adebayo and Olumilua Oluwayemika, Adeyemi is one of three nominees from Ekiti.
The committee also looked at a number of other career candidates, such as Ahmed Sulu Gambari, Maimuna Besto, Monica Enebechi, Ahmed Monguno, Kingsley Onaga, Magaji Umar, and Aminu Nasir.
Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, who used to want to be governor of Ondo State, showed up before the panel even though he wasn’t supposed to be there on Wednesday. They told him to “take a bow and go.”
The session today was the second part of the screening process. Kayode Are (Ogun), Aminu Dalhatu (Jigawa), and Ayodele Oke (Oyo) had already spoken to the panel.
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