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By Chukwuma Umeorah
Senior lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, has raised issues concerning transparency and thoroughness in the screening of ministerial nominees by the Senate.
One major point of contention was the limited opportunity given to each nominee at the screening process to present their ideas to the Nigerian populace.
Adegboruwa argued that this curtailed opportunity for the public to fully understand the vision and plans of these potential ministers.
This is as he criticised the screening process for its perceived lack of attention to critical issues questioning the extent to which the nominees’ qualifications, expertise, and potential conflicts of interest were rigorously examined.
“This culture of ‘take-a-bow’ and leave makes no sense of the entire screening process because the exercise is supposed to be a process where candidates are given the opportunity to share with Nigerians their visions for electricity, road, healthcare and other aspects of national development. But when you just ask someone to bow and go, then he has no responsibility to Nigerians, you have not discharged your responsibility on behalf of the people,” he said.
Adegboruwa said the lawmakers needed to do more to win the confidence of the people while proving to them its autonomy, implying that the lawmakers may have been doing the bidding of the Executive by conducting such a questionable screening exercise for ministerial nominees.
“For me, the National Assembly needs to give people the confidence that it is an independent and autonomous entity. In terms of its relationship with the executive. It must not always be confrontational, but there must be that level of autonomy and independence on how it treats matters coming from the executive so that it would wear off this sentiment of being a rubber-stamp institution.”
Adegboruwa however noted that the capacity of any minister to function effectively in his ministry depended largely on the President as the constitution of Nigeria had placed excessive powers on him.
“No matter the experience or professional competence a minister parades, his efficiency to perform can only be determined by the president. This is because of the excessive power that the constitution places on the president. Whatever proposal that is presented by any minister would still need the approval of the President before it is implemented,” he said.
