Ministerial Screening: George Akume Asked To Take A Bow

Ministerial nominee, George Akume

The Senate on Wednesday decided not to quiz the ministerial nominee from Benue State, George Akume during the screening of nominees.

Instead, Akume, who became a Senator in 2007 and served three terms before losing his third re-election bid this year, was simply asked to take a bow and go.

Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, said it is a tradition for the National Assembly to simple ask nominees who served in the federal parliament the privilege to take a bow.

Although he noted that some people do not agree with the tradition, he insisted that it must continue.

“Let me also remind us that it is a tradition here to give this privilege, this concession to senators who served in this chamber or in the House of Representatives or indeed the states Houses of Assembly,” the Senate President said.

“This tradition must continue despite the fact that some people do not understand it and we need to educate them.”

The Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, had earlier stressed the need for the tradition to be maintained and urged the Senate to call on Akume to take a bow and go.

He said, “I rose for only one purpose to ensure that tradition of that convention be respected in perpetuity so that no question here other than ‘take a bow and go’ propagated by a few of our colleagues be maintained.

“I rise to support that he should be asked to take a bow and go given his length of service in this chamber.”

In calling on Senator Akume to take a bow, Lawan urged him to sustain the legacies by working hard to deliver and also promote the relationship between the executive and legislative arms of government.

“We expect the legislature and the executive to work together. A relationship bears on mutual respect, consultation, and cooperation. The nominee, a gentleman to the core.

“We expect that when you eventually become a minister, you will lead the vanguard for those who passed through this National Assembly to create and sustain a decent operational and respectable relationship between the two arms of government.

“We are in a haste to deliver but it takes the two arms to deliver. You can take a bow,” he said.

The first nominee to be screened, Uchechukwu Ogah (Abia State), was grilled for nearly one hour with questions about the country’s oil and financial sectors, among others.