Omololu Ogunmade
2 December 2008
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Lagos — As the ongoing confirmation exercise of ministerial nominees at the Senate continues, its undercurrents at the upper legislative chamber and the polity at large have continued to expand.
All things being equal, the Senate will this week conclude the screening of ministerial nominees forwarded to it by the Presidency. Of the 13 nominations so far presented to the legislative House by President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, no fewer than five have been confirmed so far. Both the nomination and confirmation are the fall-out of the sack of 20 ministers by Yar'Adua recently.
Some of the nominees so far confirmed include the Director General of the National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Professor Dora Akunyili, Chairman of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS, Professor Babatunde Osotimehin among others.
However, at the heat of the confirmation exercise last Wednesday, Senator Uche Chukwumerije (Abia), had a running battle with his fellow senators, over the prevalent 'bow and go' syndrome in the Senate. It is usually the tradition of the senators not to subject any ex-member of the National Assembly to questioning, during confirmation exercise. Instead, the Senate will just ask such a person to "bow and go."
When the trend repeated itself last week, Chukwumerije, for the first time since the practice of the tradition, took on his colleagues, arguing that the tradition negates the spirit of equality and transparency, which should be hallmark of meaningful democracy. According to Chukwumerije, if other nominees are being subjected to thorough scrutiny, the axiom that "what is good for the goose is good for the gander," should have served as the underlying factor.
In the presentation of Chukwumerije, the bow and go tradition at the Senate, which is the highest lawmaking institution in the country, trivializes the integrity of the upper House and more or less reduces it to a local government council. It was the submission of the senator that the 'bow and go' syndrome is more or less a robbery attempt, because in his perception, it not only denies fellow lawmakers of their rights to ask questions, but also deprived citizens, whom he described as taxpayers, of the opportunity to know the stuffs that concerned nominees are made of.
Besides, Chukwumerije reasoned that every citizen of Nigeria is entitled to know the capacity of a ministerial nominee to deliver the good to the populace before he ascends the lofty position of a minister. In the argument of Chukwumerije, the Senate by this tradition, only opts to give an automatic passage to their former colleagues, without due consideration of their abilities to represent the interest of the people, when they 'll be eventually assigned a portfolio. This consideration, which he believed should be the central idea of Senate confirmation exercise, is now being shoved aside by his colleagues' mere sentiments.
In the perception of Chukwumerije, the screening exercise manifests hypocritical demonstrations by senators, in perpetuation of the age-long belief in Nigeria, that "all animals are equal, but some are more equal than the other." This by way of interpretation can be succinctly put as: "All ministerial nominees are equal, but former lawmakers are more equal than the other."
This development has led to a number of people questioning the authority of the senators not to clear some nominees at any point in time, since Chukwumerije's exposition has revealed that confirmation of ministerial nominees at the Senate is not done by merit, but rather by the sentiment of senators.
"May I remind colleagues that we are not a local government council and must not heckle? By this bow and go short-circuit, you are depriving not just us here, but the tax payers' public of this country. The public whom you have served for these many years is entitled to know and ask the quality of service you are giving to them," the fiery senator kicked.
However, Senate President David Mark, while defending the Senate's action, affirmed that the 'bow and go' tradition is the exclusive preserve of former members of the National Assembly and hence not debatable. Nevertheless, the question agitating the minds of many in relation to this discourse is, how justifiable is the decision asking an ex-lawmaker to 'bow and go,' when the Senate hasn't cared to examine if the nominee had records of excellent representation when he was in the National Assembly or not? Other issues advanced by observers include, if an ex-lawmaker, who is a nominee, has been involved in one fraud or the other, won't it be self-serving allowing such a person to 'bow and go' forward to pick a responsibility of that magnitude, without attempting to look into his personal details? Only the senators can best answer these questions.
In another development, Special Adviser to the President on Petroleum, Alhaji Rilwanu Lukman has commenced intensive lobby of the senators as the Senate meets this week to ratify the last set of ministerial nominees before it.
THISDAY learnt at the weekend, that most of the senators are not favourably disposed to the nomination of this former Minister of Petroleum Resources. A senator who spoke with THISDAY on the ground of anonymity at the weekend, said the senators were opposed to the nomination of Lukman because he is considered too old to act effectively in the office of a minister.
The senator who confirmed that the upper House would complete the screening of the ministerial nominees on the list before it this week, said Lukman has extensively lobbied the senators, many of whom he said have been compelled to change their initial perception towards him.
According to him, the sudden change of mind towards Lumen by certain senators was borne out of tribal sentiment, which he said was expressed mainly by his Northern counterparts. He disclosed that against this background, Northern senators have agreed to throw their weights behind him.
"We don't want him to be confirmed because we feel he's too old for the job. But he has lobbied the senators a lot and of course, the lobby has worked, particularly on the Northern senators, who have agreed to support him," the senator disclosed.
He confirmed that nominees awaiting confirmation have all been interviewed, disclosing that the major tasks before them this week in relation to the confirmation exercise include thorough deliberations on the aftermath of various interviews so far conducted.
According to him, the deliberation will be carried out in privacy, after which the final ratification will be done on the floor of the Senate.
"By next week (this week), we will do the confirmation. So far, we have interviewed them. This week, we will decide on who we 'all confirm or not. First of all, we will discuss it (the outcome of the interviews). This will be done in privacy. But it's only Northerners who said they want Lumen confirmed," he revealed.
However, if the senators indeed conceived notions not to confirm Lukman at all as a result of old age, then Mr. Gamaliel Onosode, a business magnate and captain of industry, may have a big hurdle to scale, given confirmation of the report on Monday that the 75-year old chairman of Zain is being considered to head the newly created Niger Delta Ministry.
The report broken by THISDAY affirmed that the Federal Government has eventually settled for Onosode after weeks of intensive search for an individual to head the ministry.
This development brings about reminiscences of the comment of Vice President Goodluck Jonathan in Lagos recently that anybody from any part of the country could be assigned to head the ministry. Jonathan made this disclosure while delivering a lecture at the 65th anniversary of Eko Club. The Vice President's comment might have been right, in view of reports that the Presidency indeed searched for an individual outside the region before eventually settling down for Onosode.
Jonathan had disclosed that given the level of commitments that the Federal Government has so far deployed to the issues in the Niger Delta, such as the creation of the ministry, therefore, the menace of violence and militancy in the zone would soon be extinct.
According to him, the Niger Delta Ministry was not established on the basis of geographical location and hence would operate like any other federal ministry adding that its creation was only necessitated by the need to address the infrastructural decay in the region.
"The Niger Delta Ministry we have today is not based on geographical location. There are nine states that make up the Niger Delta. So, it will operate like any other ministry. The minister can come from any part of the country. The permanent secretary can come from any part of the country. The director and all the workers can come from any part of the country," the vice president remarked.
He revealed that the main commitment of the Niger Delta Ministry would be infrastructural and youth development in the zone, explaining that the ministry will liaise with oil companies, clean the environment and guarantee effective road network in the region.
However, in view of the enormous responsibilities expected to be discharged by the Niger Delta Ministry, how Onosode, who has a number of businesses to oversee will promptly fit into the position is yet an issue to watch, if he scales the confirmation at the Senate. There are also insinuations that should Onosode find it imperative to resign some of his business positions in order to serve as a full-fledged minister, the septuagenarian who has spent his entire life in the business world, will have a nostalgic feeling. This is more so, that Onosode is also said to be a minister of the gospel, a task that is also viewed as huge and demanding.
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