I Was Nervous During Ministerial Screening – Bianca Reveals

Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, one of President Bola Tinubu’s recent ministerial nominees, expressed gratitude to Basheer Lado, Special Adviser to the President on Senate Matters, for his guidance during the recent screening exercise.

Speaking on behalf of the ministers-designate at a meeting with Lado in Abuja, Odumegwu-Ojukwu admitted to feeling “quite nervous” before her screening but said Lado’s support provided a sense of reassurance.

Odumegwu-Ojukwu, a former Nigerian ambassador, is among the new ministerial nominees confirmed by the Senate following President Tinubu’s recent cabinet shake-up.

The nominees are expected to assume their roles following the completion of the Senate’s confirmation process.

She said, “We cannot thank you enough for how you have navigated us all through this process and how you have made us quite comfortable through the whole procedure.

“I speak for myself, I don’t know about anybody else, I was quite nervous, we were just wondering basically if this day will come and go.

“But from the onset, each person here, you made the effort to get in touch personally, speak to us, tell us everything that we needed to do, all the documentation that needed to be done and saw us through this, from beginning to completion.

“So, I will just like on behalf of everybody here and I congratulate all my colleagues here, but on behalf of all of us, we just say a very very big thank you. We really appreciate your efforts.

“We appreciate your considerations, we appreciate your sacrifice, because we were calling you at odd hours of the night and you were always available to speak to us and to guide us through this.

“So I thank you so very much on behalf of all of us here.”

On Wednesday, the senate confirmed Nentawe Yilwatda as minister of humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation, Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi as minister of labour and employment, Odumegwu-Ojukwu as minister of state for foreign affairs, and Yusuf Abdullahi Ata as minister of state housing and urban development.

Others are Idi Mukhtar Maiha as minister of livestock development, Jumoke Oduwole as minister of trade and investment, and Suwaiba Said Ahmad as the minister of state for education.