- By Kamil Opeyemi
A ministerial nominee from Benue state, Prof Joseph Utsev, has caused uproar in the senate on Monday after records he showed were faulted by some senators. Senator representing Lagos East, Tokunbo Abiru, first raised issues on the bio data of the nominee, who is a professor and specialist in water engineering. Abiru had raised questions on the year the nominee claimed to have been born (1980) and the year he claimed to have completed his primary school.
While one of the senators from Benue, Abba Moro asked that the nominee be allowed to go and sort what he described as “typographical errors” in his records, another senator, from Benue North, said his state has no problem with Utsev and that he “had done well in his previous assignment.”
However, some other senators who were not comfortable made noise on the floor of the Upper Chamber saying the noticed discrepancies could not just be typographical errors.
The nominee however got a reprieve when Senator Abubakar Yari from Zamfara state diverted attentions away from certificate and age by asking the nominee questions on the fate of river basins in the country.
Akpabio had said, “He was three years old when he started his primary education. He finished six years later. He was the classmate of Abba Moro, let us also see if he (Moro) started primary school at age three.”
“The discrepancy probably came from a typographical error. Let us give him the benefit of the doubt. He has sufficiently discharged himself and he should be asked to take a bow and go.”
The Benue Caucus in the Senate also noted that they were in support of Utsev stating that it was a minor error that should not rob him of his qualification.
Senator Eliaha Abbo said the issue of starting primary school at age three was not a problem given his academic attainment and the positions he had held in the past.
“I did Common Entrance Examination in Primary three and I won (passed). You may have been exceptionally brilliant like me. We are on national television, I don’t want anybody to get from here to doubt his academic attainment and integrity. That issue has been laid to rest,” he said.