By HENRY UMORU, Abuja

There was a mild drama yesterday (Wednesday) at the Senate during the commencement of the screening of 41 non- career and one career Ambassadorial nominees across the various states of the country when the crisis rocking the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC took a new dimension.

The logjam in the APC reared its head during the screening of the Nominees by the Senator Adamu Muhammad Bulkachuwa, APC Bauchi North led Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs.

At the commencement of the screening exercise, the nominee from Edo State, Barrister Yamah Mohammed Musa was embattled and had issues with the committee members when asked by the Chairman, Senator Adamu Muhammad Bulkachuwa to explain his contribution to APC in Edo State.

When it was his turn to answer the question, the nominee who hails from Etsako West local government in Edo State, stirred the hornet nest when he told the committee members that not only did he ensure total victory for candidates of APC in the area during the 2019 general elections, but did justice to national assignments given to him at the time by the party national leadership.

He said, “I was in the forefront of party members who conducted primary elections for all our House of Representatives candidates in the South West, one of whom is the Honourable Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt Hon Femi Gbajabiamila.

“I also held the committee that conducted the APC primaries in Akwa Ibom aside other national assignments which contributed to the success of the party at the polls.”

Angered by the submission, a member of the committee, Senator Ibikunle Amosun ( APC Ogun Central) who immediately took the nominee up by telling him that what he described as the achievement was sham, said, “I am from the southwest and I know all that took place during the so-called primaries perpetrated by your committee and those who assigned you then.

“Please such exercise is not something you should be referring to as achievement because as party members, we knew what happened then and those behind it.

“We don’t want you to carry this type of mindset to foreign post if eventually confirmed, so the earlier, you erased such unbecoming assignments as personal achievements, the better ”

Also speaking, Senator Rochas Okorocha ( APC Imo West) who took a swipe at the nominee, shouted on the nominee to sit properly and warned him not to make such submissions anywhere again as achievements.

Okorocha said, ” You are here to be screened and possibly confirmed as an ambassador to represent Nigeria anywhere you are later posted by the President and reminding us of worst primaries elections ever conducted by a political party in Nigeria under a man that had been sent away now.

“Hope you are not being rewarded for the sham you called primaries and injustice done against loyal party members. Don’t ever mention that again or remind people of such stage-managed assignments be it in Nigeria or wherever you are posted to, or else, I will move against your nomination.”

The Chairman of the Committee, Senator Bulkachuwa, however, came to the rescue of the nominee who was already sweating, by appealing to the committee members to allow him to take a bow and go.

Barrister Musa who hurriedly left the venue of the screening exercise ( room 211) when told to take a bow and go and was however not comfortable with the development by asking journalists way out of the National Assembly Complex as against joining his other colleagues lodged in Senator Bulkachuwa’s office.

Aside from the embattled Edo nominee, the committee also carried out the screening exercise on Ademola Seriki from Lagos, Engineer Umar Suleiman from Adamawa, Major Gen C.O Ugwu from Enugu, Mr Kelvin Peter Adamu from Adamawa etc.

The screening exercise continues. (Vanguard)

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