Tambuwal Mum As Ministerial Nominee He Sacked Navigates Certificate Scandal

There was subdued drama in the Senate on Monday as Senator Aminu Waziri Tambuwal introduced the man he sacked as a commissioner for information as a fit person to be minister but kept mum when the Sokoto State ministerial nominee, Bello Muhammad Goronyo was tackled over his certificate.

At the centre of the puzzle was how Goronyo was able to enter university with two credits from secondary school.

The drama over Goronyo’s certificate only masked the little drama between him and Tambuwal who fired him as a commissioner when he, Goronyo chose to go with Senator Aliyu Wamakko when the two fell apart when Tambuwal defected from the APC to the PDP.

Goronyo was sacked by Tambuwal as commissioner for information when days ahead to his (Tambuwal’s) re-election, Goronyo chose to defect from the PDP to the APC led by Senator Aliyu Wamakko.

GWG.ng reports that Tambuwal chose to introduce the Sokoto State nominee when he was called up praising him as being qualified to be a minister having served as a commissioner under him among other attributes.

However, the real drama came when Senator Allwell Onyesoh of Rivers East, sought to know how Goronyo was able to advance academically, given his school leaving certificate.

“I’ve been looking for your school cert. I saw one. You sat for five subjects with two credits,” Onyesoh said.

“I don’t know how; I want to imagine that you still have another to bring. If not, I would want you to explain how you got into university with that.”

In his response, Goronyo told the chamber he had other secondary school results that he “all passed” which he admittedly did not attach to his CV “because we are talking of secondary school certificate”.

“I want to remind the distinguished senator which I know he very much knows that with the qualification of secondary school certificate, as enshrined in the constitution, we can stand for an election up to the presidential election,” the nominee explained.

“So, I didn’t bother you with much certificates (sic). But I know those are the qualifications for that.”

At this point, Senate President Godswill Akpabio stepped in, noting the distinctions between contesting an election and being nominated to serve as a minister.

“You are saying that you chose what to give to the Senate. You chose the qualification to bring before the Senate because of the constitutional provision that a secondary school certificate is what is required to stand for election,” Akpabio said.

“You’re not coming to stand for election; you’re coming to be a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. So, which are the other certificates you concealed? Which are the other certificates you did not put in your CV?”

Goronyo then attempted to explain further, saying his first attempt at the secondary school certificate examination resulted in “two credit passes”.

He added that he had “sat for another examination and I have passed but I don’t want to attach another qualification because.”

The response prompted rowdiness in the chamber.

In an apparent bid to de-escalate the session, the Senate President closed out Goronyo’s screening with a warning to other nominees.

He noted that the lawmakers were keen on knowing something “in totality” about the subjects of exercise, “including the number of children they have” and “the number of houses” they had.

According to him, Nigerians have a right to know their ministers as does the international community.

“So, you don’t choose and pick,” he said.

Akpabio concluded by saying the Senate would allow Goronyo some more time to bring the other certificates “to circulate, but not necessarily appealing again before us.”

With additional reports from Channels TV

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