A heated controversy arose in the Senate concerning the age at which ministerial nominee, Prof Joseph Utsev, started primary school, as stated in his Curriculum Vitae.
Senator Mikhail Abiru (APC, Lagos) drew his colleagues’ attention to the CV, which indicated that Prof Utsev was born in 1980, started primary school in 1984, and completed his primary education in 1989. This timeline raised questions and triggered discussions among the senators.
Prof Utsev defended his educational qualifications, asserting that he indeed started primary school at the age of three and graduated as the top student from the University of Agriculture, Makurdi, in the Department of Civil Engineering. He further revealed that he pursued a Bachelor of Science (Bsc) in Water Engineering from the same university in 2009.
Additionally, Prof Utsev proudly holds the esteemed position of being the pioneer rector of the recently established Benue State Polytechnic, which he assumed in 2020.
During the questioning, Senator Abiru sought clarification on the dates mentioned in the nominee’s academic records, citing potential confusion in the information presented.
In response, Prof Utsev reiterated that he was indeed born in 1980 and graduated with a First Leaving School Certificate in 1989.
Coming to his defense, Senator Abba Moro (PDP, Benue) urged his colleagues to overlook any discrepancies in the educational qualifications’ dates, suggesting that they might be a result of typographical errors.
“Looking at the resume that we have, the discrepancies that we have may have necessarily come from a typographical error. I want to say at this point, records don’t lie and if you look at what we have there and explain the action that he has given. I think we should give him the benefit of the doubt.
“I have a point that I want to make here. I want to say that I come from a part of Benue state that is a minority. I want to appeal to my colleagues to approve the nominations of my professor from Benue state,” he said.
But Titus Zam, another Benue senator, disagreed with Moro’s submission, saying that there was no discrepancy in the academic records of the nominee.
“I am from Benue and the nominee is from my constituency,” he said.
At this point, Senate President Godswill Akpabio said he would not entertain any question pertaining to the date in the academic records of the Benue nominee after Abba Moro approached him.
“I will not want to entertain anything on the issue of when he entered school again. Senator Abba Moro just pointed my attention to an important issue which the nominee will clarify,” Akpabio said.
In a move to bury the issue, Senator Elisha Abbo (APC, Adamawa) said the nominee is exceptionally brilliant like himself for starting primary school at the age of three.
“The nominee is exceptionally brilliant like me. I took the entrance exam at the age of three and I won (sic),” he said.
The Benue nominee was asked to take a bow and go after speaking briefly on how he would turn things around in the environment sector, without saying anything on his academic records.
