The ministerial nominee from Kaduna State, Balarabe Abbas, on Wednesday collapsed while undergoing screening on the floor of the Nigerian Senate.
Mr Balarabe’s nomination appeared to have been made to replace a former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, whose nomination was put on hold by the Senate in August.
The nominee slumped around 1:50 p.m. after he introduced himself and highlighted his achievements so far in the private and public sectors.
Mr Balarabe is the second ministerial nominee on the list.
After he slumped, senators rushed to the podium to save his life.
The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, screamed and asked for water and sugar to save the nominee’s life.
Mr Akpabio directed that the Senate go into a closed-door session immediately.
President Bola Tinubu had on Tuesday wrote the Senate asking the upper legislative chamber to screen and confirm Mr Balarabe, Jamila Bio Ibrahim from Kwara State and Ayodele Olawande.
Mr Tinubu had in September announced the appointment of Mrs Ibrahim to serve as minister of youth and Mr Olawande to serve as minister of state for youth pending their confirmation by the Senate.
Mr Balarabe was the chairman of the 65-member transition committee that handled the swearing-in of Uba Sani as governor of Kaduna State, on 29 May.
He is a former Secretary to the Kaduna State Government and had also headed the transition committee of the state in 2015. He also served as the vice-chairman of the committee in 2019.
Credit: premiumtimesng.com
