The Senate continued the screening of ministerial nominees today, October 14.

The Senate screened 10 nominees yesterday, while 9 ministerial nominees from the first batch were screened today. However, the screening of Rotimi Amaechi was deferred.
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The first to appear before the Senate for questioning today was Babatunde Fashola, the former Lagos state governor.

When former Lagos governor, Babatunde Fashola, took center stage at the ongoing screening of the ministerial nominees, the sound of a pin couldn’t be heard at the upper chamber of the National Assembly.

With evident dexterity and a deep grasp of issues, Fashola answered every question asked of him and carefully side-stepped a few sensitive queries.

The minister-in-waiting successfully impressed the Senators and the watching public with his answers.

Here are 21 quotes by Fashola from the screening:

1. ‘Our Work in Lagos was a Team Effort, I won’t appropriate personal responsibility for the Good Work’.

2. ‘My attitude was to see criminals as my competitor and with competitions ,my desire was to win’.

3. ‘Security remains the primary but toughest job a leader can have; It was a competition’.

4. ‘As governor I felt responsible for every citizen that was robbed. Every citizen that was robbed, I had failed. That’s how I felt’.

5. ‘Before we increase taxes, we must optimize the capacity to get that which is in the place.’

6. ‘Online Technology is a very versatile tool for tax collection… moving to it would be important’.

7. ‘Competition stimulates productivity. There is no state that is unable to carry out productive activity’.

8. ‘If we are afraid of abuse, start the state police. Not every state should start if it can’t be funded’.

9. ‘My Knowledge of Abuja is not as deep as my knowledge of Lagos. I have lived in Lagos all my life.’

10. ‘I don’t know the last time a serious conviction was made for rape in any of our high courts’.

11. ‘I will walk away from the tendency to condemn the level of development of our Country’.

12. ‘It is our responsibility to continue to add value whenever we find ourselves in a privileged position’.

13. ‘The only training I have is that of a lawyer. I don’t fix contract prices, I don’t sign cheques, non of my commissioners signs cheques. We have a process that was followed.’

14. ‘In my own right as a 52 years man, I am old, but we must continue to interface with and guide the youths’.

15. ‘Nobody has alleged that I have corruptly enriched myself. The unfortunate thing about money is that it always raises suspicion even amongst brothers.’

16. ‘The concept of loyalty is a very strange one. In public life I have remained loyal to causes that I have signed on to. Nobody can fairly accuse me of giving my word and going back on my word. I always pray that my loyalty will not be tested.’

17. ‘This country has demonstrated that it can change anything that it doesn’t like.’

18. ‘People must pay taxes. People who want to benefit from the commonwealth must contribute to the common purse’.

19. ‘We must decide for ourselves what quality of life we are willing to accept as a people’.

20. ‘In a Federation, the right to free movement is not an absolute right because there are individuals who tend to be a nuisance.’

21. ‘Our infrastructure is behind, and if we don’t invest money in infrastructure, we can’t move forward. We can’t borrow to pay salaries or fuel generators, we must borrow to pay for our Infrastructures.’

1. ‘Our Work in Lagos was a Team Effort, I won’t appropriate personal responsibility for the Good Work’.

2. ‘My attitude was to see criminals as my competitor and with competitions ,my desire was to win’.

3. ‘Security remains the primary but toughest job a leader can have; It was a competition’.

4. ‘As governor I felt responsible for every citizen that was robbed. Every citizen that was robbed, I had failed. That’s how I felt’.

5. ‘Before we increase taxes, we must optimize the capacity to get that which is in the place.’

6. ‘Online Technology is a very versatile tool for tax collection… moving to it would be important’.

7. ‘Competition stimulates productivity. There is no state that is unable to carry out productive activity’.

8. ‘If we are afraid of abuse, start the state police. Not every state should start if it can’t be funded’.

9. ‘My Knowledge of Abuja is not as deep as my knowledge of Lagos. I have lived in Lagos all my life.’

10. ‘I don’t know the last time a serious conviction was made for rape in any of our high courts’.

11. ‘I will walk away from the tendency to condemn the level of development of our Country’.

12. ‘It is our responsibility to continue to add value whenever we find ourselves in a privileged position’.

13. ‘The only training I have is that of a lawyer. I don’t fix contract prices, I don’t sign cheques, non of my commissioners signs cheques. We have a process that was followed.’

14. ‘In my own right as a 52 years man, I am old, but we must continue to interface with and guide the youths’.

15. ‘Nobody has alleged that I have corruptly enriched myself. The unfortunate thing about money is that it always raises suspicion even amongst brothers.’

16. ‘The concept of loyalty is a very strange one. In public life I have remained loyal to causes that I have signed on to. Nobody can fairly accuse me of giving my word and going back on my word. I always pray that my loyalty will not be tested.’

17. ‘This country has demonstrated that it can change anything that it doesn’t like.’

18. ‘People must pay taxes. People who want to benefit from the commonwealth must contribute to the common purse’.

19. ‘We must decide for ourselves what quality of life we are willing to accept as a people’.

20. ‘In a Federation, the right to free movement is not an absolute right because there are individuals who tend to be a nuisance.’

21. ‘Our infrastructure is behind, and if we don’t invest money in infrastructure, we can’t move forward. We can’t borrow to pay salaries or fuel generators, we must borrow to pay for our Infrastructures.’