Maryam Shetty, a ministerial nominee from Kano, appeared at the National Assembly Complex on Friday for screening.
She discovered that President Bola Tinubu had sent another name to replace her.
Tinubu sent 19 names, including Shetty’s, in the list of ministerial nominees sent to the senate for screening.
He sent the additional names six days after submitting the initial 28 names.
Shetty’s nomination received mixed reactions.
While some referred to her as a “Tik Tok influencer,” others criticized her “unimpressive” professional experience as a physiotherapist.
Undeterred by the criticism, Shetty arrived at the upper legislative chamber wearing a wine-coloured headgear and a black burqa.
To her surprise and that of her supporters, they were informed at the gate of the senate that her name had been replaced.
The president replaced her with Mariya Mahmoud Bunkure, another nominee from the state.
In response to the situation, Shetty expressed her appreciation to the president for his decision and congratulated Bunkure on her nomination.
“I was just informed now at today’s plenary session that President Bola Ahmad Tinubu has withdrawn my ministerial nomination and replaced me with Mairiga Mahmud,” she wrote on Twitter.
“I’m grateful and thankful for any decision from you my president!
“I felicitate with Mariya Mairiga Mahmud. I thank the leader of our party Abdullahi Ganduje for his fatherly disposition and democratic stance that sets the stage for a free and transparent contestation devoid of institutional bias, favouritism, or imposition of any kind.”
