Abbas Balarabe, a Kaduna State nominee for a ministerial position, passed out during the Senate’s Committee of the Whole screening on Wednesday afternoon.
When the incident occurred, Balarabe had just finished reading a brief biography of himself, and the Senate had suspended its rules to allow it to continue meeting after 2 p.m.
The Senate immediately convened a closed-door meeting, so there was no clear record of what actually happened or what precipitated the incident.
Apparently perplexed, Senate President Godswill Akpabio was heard urging Senators and parliamentary staff to revive the nominee by yelling, “Give him water and sugar.”
Malam Nasir El-Rufai, the immediately preceding governor of Kaduna State, was replaced by Abbas, according to GISTLOVER, after the Senate refused to confirm him due to a pending security clearance.
Abbas will be assigned to the Ministry of Environment, which was previously reserved for Kaduna State, following his confirmation by the Senate, barring a last-minute change.