A ministerial nominee from Delta State, Festus Keyamo, said he had given up hope to serve in the Federal Executive Council of the current All Progressives Congress (APC) administration until he was nominated by President Bola Tinubu last Friday.
Keyamo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), spoke on Monday during his ministerial screening at the Senate.
The former Minister of State for Labour and Productivity under the then administration of ex-President Muhammadu Buhari thanked Tinubufor finding him worthy to serve in his cabinet.
Addressing the lawmakers, Keyamo said,
“My appearance here today can only be by the grace of God and by the special benevolence of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and I want to say a special ‘Thank You’ to him for giving me this rare opportunity to serve.
“In fact, why I said I give all the glory and adoration to God is that on Friday, when my name was announced on this floor, my bags and baggage were already packed with that of my family; we were going on a short vacation. I had given up any hope to be here when all of a sudden they said my name has been announced.”
Keyamo’s screening session, however, ended in a rowdy session as lawmakers were divided over his nomination with some calling for the suspension of the exercise.
Keyamo was the last nominee out of Tinubu’s 48-man ministerial list to appear before the Senate. He appeared before the red chamber on Monday afternoon after another nominee, Mariya Mahmoud, a former Commissioner for Higher Education in Kano State.
Initially, Keyamo, 53, did not make the President’s first and second ministerial lists. However, in a dramatic twist of events, Tinubu removed Maryam Shetty, a ministerial nominee from Kano last Friday and replaced her with Keyamo and Mahmood.
Keyamo was a spokesperson for the Tinubu-Shettima Presidential Campaign Council during the February 25, 2023 electioneering process that produced the new administration.