Former Minister of State, Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, has finally apologized to the Senate after the rowdy session that trailed his nomination for appointment as Minister by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Keyamo’s screening was suspended after Senators moved a motion to stand down his nomination over his actions as Minister of State during the Buhari-led administration.
The Senator representing Abia Central senatorial district, Darlington Nwokocha, moved a motion for the suspension of Keyamo’s ministerial screening following his lack of accountability as Minister of State for Labour.
During his time as Minister, Keyamo was invited to explain a Special Public Works programme said to have been supervised by his Ministry, but rather than honour the invitation, he went to the media to accuse the Senate of fraud.
The Special Public Works programme was coordinated by the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) and in 2020 had earmarked N52 billion to recruit 1,000 youths from each of the 774 local governments for three months, and pay them N20,000 each, but many people didn’t receive that money, and Keyamo refused to account for it.
At the resumed session, Keyamo told the Senators that he apologized for ignoring the summons of the Committee earlier, adding that the apology was without reservation.
Keyamo explained that the disbursement of the N52 billion was supervised by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) while the payment was made to all intended beneficiaries, without him getting a dime from the money.
The Chief Whip of the Senate, Ali Ndume, moved a motion for the Senate to accept the apology, asking Keyamo to conduct himself properly in the future.
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