Kaduna ministerial nominee collapses in presence of senators during screening

Abbas Balarabe, the ministerial nominee from Kaduna State, on Wednesday afternoon, collapsed in the presence of senators during his screening by the Senate.

Balarabe had shortly finished reading a brief background information about himself, while the Senate had also suspended its rules to allow its sitting beyond 2 p.m. when the incident happened.

There was no clear picture of what actually transpired or what led to the incident as the Senate immediately went into a closed-door session.

Apparently confused, Senate President Godswill Akpabio was heard rallying Senators and parliamentary workers in the red chamber to revive the nominee by shouting, “give him water and sugar.”

Abbas replaced the immediate-past governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, whose confirmation was withheld by the Senate over a pending security clearance.

Upon his confirmation by the Senate and barring last-minute change, Abbas will be deployed to the Ministry of Environment, which was already reserved for Kaduna State.