Senate President Godswill Akpabio during Wednesday’s ministerial screening prevented presidential spokesman, Dele Alake, from reciting the second stanza of the national anthem as requested by the Minority Leader of the Senate, Simon Mwadkwon.
Mwadkwon, member from Plateau North Senatorial District, asked Alake to recite the second stanza of the national anthem to show that he has what it takes to be the image maker of Nigeria if appointed Minister of Information and Culture by President Bola Tinubu.
However, the Majority Leader of the Senate, Opeyemi Bamidele from Ekiti Central Senatorial District, who spoke for the Ekiti State caucus in the upper chamber, said that the Plateau Senator has brought politics into the screening by asking that Alake recite the national anthem that other nominees have not been asked to recite.
Bamidele asked Akpabio to expunge the request and the Senate President did just so.
“Even if you ask me as Senate President to recite the second stanza, I will do it offhand. It is expected that every adult in Nigeria has the stanzas in his heart,” the Senate President said.
“We are here to do serious business of how to move this country forward and to ask the nominees what they will bring on the table to assist us to get out of the economic conundrum. It is not necessarily to sing songs.”
Earlier, Mwadkwon claimed that Alake labelled supporters of a certain presidential candidate as “wild dogs” during the last presidential election.
Alake, who is one of the 47 ministerial nominees of President Bola Tinubu for screening, appeared before the red chamber on the third consecutive day of the exercise.
Alake, from Ekiti State, was the Director of Strategic Communication of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council in the February 25, 2023 poll that brought in Tinubu as President.
Alake was also Commissioner of Information and Strategy in Lagos State when Tinubu was governor of the state from May 1999 to May 2007.
The Senator from Plateau North said,
“I read a statement where you labelled supporters of a particular presidential candidate as ‘wild dogs’. Have you come across that statement? Are you aware of it? Did you say that?”
After Mwadkwon’s question, Akpabio urged his colleagues to avoid campaign issues, saying
“campaigns are over” and “questions must be nationalistic and not partisan”.
Mwadkwon continued and insisted that Alake answer whether it is true or not that he labelled opponents of his principal as “wild dogs” during the electioneering process earlier this year.
However, Akpabio interjected and asked that his colleague move to his second question which bothered on recitation of the national anthem.
After preventing the presidential spokesman from reciting the second stanza of the national anthem, Akpabio said, “Dele Alake, te have watched you over the years and we don’t have any doubt about your capacity to handle any portfolio”.
The Senate President subsequently asked that Alake take a bow and the gesture ended the over one-hour exercise.
