Senate Screens 15 Ambassadorial Nominees as Some Fail to Recite National Anthem, Pledge Correctly

Ambassadorial Screening

The Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs on Tuesday in Abuja, screened 15 ambassadorial nominees out of 47 that were sent by President Muhammadu Buhari for confirmation.

The Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Ita Enang, led the nominees to the screening venue.

The Chairman of the committee, Senator Monsurat Sunmonu, after the screening, announced that the committee will continue with the exercise on Wednesday.

The nominees answered questions ranging from their qualification to experience on the job.

However, some of the nominees failed to recite the National Anthem and Pledge when asked to do so.

According to PUNCH:

Vivian Okeke from Anambra State, who was asked to recite the anthem, murmured when she got to the second to the last line of the first stanza, ‘One nation bound in freedom.’ The panelists however came to her rescue.

Ibrahim Isah from Niger State, who is currently serving in Turkey, was asked to recite the national pledge. When he reached the third to the last line, he said, ‘To defend her unity and integrity,’ instead of ‘to defend her unity and uphold her honour and glory’.

Hakeem Balogun from Lagos State, who currently serves in the United States, recited the old national anthem to a point and was asked to start again and he got it right.

Jane Ndem from Benue State, got the number of lawmakers in the Senate (109); she also got the names of senators representing her state but when she was asked to name 12 states in Nigeria and their capital, she got 11 but named Lagos as the capital of Lagos  instead of Ikeja.

Shakirat Ogundero from Oyo State was able to name two out of three presidential candidates in the 2015 election – Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari.

Baba Garba, while reciting the pledge, skipped the ‘to serve Nigeria with all my strength’ line, he returned to it and skipped to ‘to defend her unity’ again.

The committee will after the screening, send report of the screening to the Senate at plenary for consideration and confirmation.

Buhari on Thursday July 9, sent a list of 47 ambassadorial nominees to the Senate for its consideration and confirmation.

The nomination was, however, trailed with controversies, as some people alleged that it was lopsided, as Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Plateau and Ondo senators kicked against the list.

Photo Credit: DAILYPOST