&w=64&q=75)
Many Nigerians were shocked to receive the news that President Bola Tinubu has withdrawn the ministerial nomination of Maryam Shettima, popularly known as Maryam Shetty, on Friday, August 4, 2023.
At the resumption of the plenary session on Friday, President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, made the surprising announcement that Tinubu had withdrawn the name of Shetty, a Kano State indigene, and replaced her with another nominee from the North-West state in the person of Mariya Mahmoud.
The development became even more dramatic when it was later learnt that the withdrawn nominee had arrived at the National Assembly for her screening moments before the announcement was made.
Tinubu had chosen Shetty among 19 other nominees of the second batch of ministers whose names were sent to the upper legislative chamber on Wednesday.
However, her nomination generated mixed reactions on social media, with many critics dismissing her as a mere TikTok influencer.
Tinubu picks classmate as Shetty's replacement
While Shetty's ministerial dream appears to have hit a snag now, her replacement isn't someone she's unfamiliar with.
Records show that Mahmoud and Shetty have crossed academic paths on more than one occasion in the past.
The duo were classmates from JSS 1 to JSS 3 at Kano Foundation Secondary School, and later at the Bayero University, Kano (BUK).
Shetty read Physiotherapy while Mahmoud read Medicine and Surgery, and by this virtue, they both shared the faculty of Medical Sciences and took some courses together.
Mahmoud and her connection to Ganduje's family
Mahmoud, for her part, isn't a newcomer in government. She served as a commissioner under former Kano State governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, and she is believed to be very close to the then Kano first family.
She's also a friend of Amina Ganduje, one of the influential daughters of the now All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman.
Amina Ganduje, a Medical Doctor who graduated from the University of Maiduguri, worked with Mahmoud at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH).