Senator Joel Danlami Ikenya was nominated as a ministerial nominee to replace Darius Ishaku who resigned to contest the Governorship election in Taraba State.
[10] In March 2008, Ikenya called on the Ghanaian government to reopen shops owned by Nigerian businessmen, citing the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) free trade zone agreement.
[11] In May 2008, he was among those who rejected a proposal to appropriate N80 billion for import of rice, saying the money should be spent on agricultural improvement, and that Nigeria should learn from countries which were turning deserts to green areas.
[13] In May 2009, he said Nigeria would not be rushed into signing the Economic Partnership Agreement aimed to liberalise trade between Africa and the European Union (EU), seeing a risk that they would flood the market with imports and destroy local businesses.
[14] In June 2008 he was among those who successfully opposed introduction of a bill sponsored by Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello for an act to establish the excess Crude Oil Fund, which would create an investment vehicle to bolster the country's financial strength in the future.