Tough Time Awaits Ministerial Nominees

The plead by the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, that Sena­tors should be ready to screen ministerial nominees with ur­gency and without pettiness or politi­cal vendetta may not hold sway in the upper legislative chamber next week when the lawmakers begin the screen­ing exercise.

Investigations by Saturday Sun re­vealed the lawmakers are poised to change the pattern of screening from the usual question and answer session with nominees to serious grilling of the would be ministers. Some of the Senators, who spoke with Saturday Sun, expressed their preparedness to carry out the exercise in a way that may be dramatic and equally interesting.

Spokesman of the Senate, Melaye Dino, APC Kogi, in an interview with Saturday Sun, however, revealed the mindset of most Senators when he said that “the screening is not going to be busi­ness as usual.” According to him: “We are going to do the screening expeditiously but meticulously and painstakingly. Our screening won’t be based on nominees’ educational qualifications only but we will equally dwell on their morals, charac­ter and antecedents. We must dig out their past to be sure that we are not approv­ing anyone with a questionable or shady background for Mr President to work with.” He added that the era of telling ministerial nominees to take a bow and leave without being questioned is over.