By Kamil Opeyemi
A ministerial nominee from Kaduna State, Balarabe Abbas Lawal collapsed on Wednesday during his screening at the floor of the Senate.
NPO Reports that Lawal is one of the three nominees whose name were sent by President Bola Tinubu.
His nomination is a replacement for that of former Governor of Kaduna state, Nasir El-Rufai, whose bami nation was stalled over security concerns.
The nominee was being asked some questions when he suddenly went down.
A surprised Senate President Godswill Akpabio was heard asking for water and sugar to revive the ministerial nominee.
“Water, water! Can you give him sugar and water? Can someone bring water and sugar? Please, call Dr Wale!” Akpabio exclaimed.
He also asked the cameramen to leave the chamber as the senators tried to help Abbas to a seat.
He was taken to the hospital at the time this report was filed but his condition remains unknown.
It was also not immediately clear if medical personnel were on hand but the National Assembly has a fully functional clinic within the complex.
Abbas Lawal from Kaduna State was screened today alongside Jamila Bio Ibrahim from Kwara State and Mr Ayodele Olawande from Ondo State.
Lawal was the second nominee to be screened when the incident happened.
He was secretary to the state government under the administration of former Governor el-Rufai.
Balarabe Lawal was born 5th February 1958 in Kachia, Kaduna State.
He thereafter went to the famous Barewa College Zaria from 1971 till 1975. From Barewa, Lawal went to Katsina College of Arts, Science and Technology, graduating in 1978.
He left Katsina to Ahmadu Bello University Zaria to study political science from 1978 to 1981. He also bagged a Masters in political science from the school in 1987.
El-Rufai was earlier nominated and screened by the senate. But he was not cleared, over what was called ‘security concerns”.
Post-graduation, Balarabe Lawal was a lecturer at College of Advanced Studies, Zaria, up till July 1989.
He then worked with Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (ASCON) as Principal Management Development Officer from July 1989 till August 1991.
His next port of service was National Electric Power Authority (NEPA), where he worked from July 1991 to 1999 as Principal Manager (Administration) .
When democracy returned to Nigeria in 1999, Balarabe Lawal first served as Special Assistant to the Minister of State for Education from September 1999 to February 2001. Later, he performed a similar role as Special Assistant to the Minister of State for Army, Ministry of Defence, Abuja from February 2001 to May 2003.