Tension was high in the Senate on Wednesday as the upper chamber differed screening and confirmation of Musiliu Obanikoro from Lagos state and three other ministerial nominees till next week.
The Senate however screened four nominees from Nasarawa, Benue, Abia and Ebonyi state but differed their confirmation till next week Tuesday.
Prior to the commencement of the screening, the Senate went into closed session for about two hours. HOMELAND NEWS gathered that period was to lobby the opposition senators who have resolved not to support the approval of Senator Obanikoro as minister.
Meanwhile, those who came in solidarity with Senator Obanikoro for the screening said that despite the delay, they are optimistic that the lawmaker will scale through.
They also believe that lawmakers representing Lagos state are capable of doing the right thing in ensuring that Senator Obaniko scale emerges with victory come next week.
The delay in confirming Senator Obanikoro we gathered, was to prepare a soft-landing for him by prevailing on APC Senators to support him.
Senator Obanikoro’s ministerial fortunes suffered a setback after an audio recording suggested that he masterminded the rigging of the Ekiti State Governorship election held in August last year.
As the then minister of state for defence, Musiliu Obanikoro allegedly plotted the use of the military in harassment and intimidation of the APC supporters in Ekiti State in order to make way for the victory of his party the PDP.
He has however denied rigging the election and argued that his voice as heard in the recording could have been electronically manipulated.
