There was drama at the upper chamber’s floor today as Senator Bello Muhammed’s credentials were questioned during his Senate screening as a ministerial nominee with questions raised about his university admission on secondary school results that included no more than two credits.
Muhammed is one of President Bola Tinubu’s 28 initial appointees who had been scheduled for interrogations during a special plenary session in the Red Chamber.
One of the questions was posed to the nominee by Senator Allwell Onyesoh of Rivers East, who sought to know how Muhammed was able to advance academically, given his school leaving certificate.
However, the Senators on Monday, observed inconsistencies in the nominee’s O’level result as it showed he had 3 F9s, and 2 passes.
“I have taken time to go through your resume, I would like you to go back to your academic qualifications, I’ve been looking for your school certificate, I saw that you sat for 5 subjects and got only 2 passes, I don’t know how, but I want to imagine that you still have another one to bring, if not, I would want you to explain how you got into University with that?” Alwell asked.
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In his response, Goronyo explained that how he got admission is not an issue as the constitution recognizes a secondary school certificate as the minimum qualification for any elective position in the country, adding that he has other results but didn’t add them to his CV.
“I have other secondary results, which I have passed and not attached to my CV. I want to remind the distinguished senator that with SSCE qualification you can stand for an election up to the presidency, so I didn’t bother you with much certificates but I know I have the qualification for that,” he said.
However, Senate President Godswill Akpabio reminded the nominee that he wasn’t seeking an elective office but was being considered for a ministerial appointment.
“You are telling us that you chose the qualifications to bring to the senate because of the constitution that secondary school certificate is what is required to stand for election? You are not coming to stand for election, you are coming to become minister, so which are the other certificates you concealed and did not put in your CV?”, Akpabio queried.
The development unsettled Goronyo as he responded that, “The secondary school certificate is there and other certificates of other qualifications…what I’m trying to say is that I have sat for another examination and I have passed, but I don’t want to attach qualifications because…”
This generated noise from the Senators who disagreed with the nominee but Akpabio intervened and directed the nominee to bring the other certificates. He also prevented the ministerial nominee from answering other questions, directing him to take a bow instead.
