The Nation Newspaper

Tag: minister’s

  • UK minister’s visit enlivens Kaduna rehab centre

    UK minister’s visit enlivens Kaduna rehab centre

    Everyone in the community and at the centre was excited. The District Head received the visitors himself. The management and inmates were keen not just to hear what they had to say but also share a few bits of information with their guests.

    It was a day to remember at the Kaduna State Rehabilitation Centre, Makera, Kakuri, where people living with disability are trained in skills to help them lead meaningful lives.

    The United Kingdom’s Minister For Africa and the Department For International Development (DFID), Hon. Grant Shapps and top British High Commission officials visited the rehabilitation centre to assess its progress and ensure that the programmes outlined for the inmates meet their needs and standard set to make life more meaningful for the less privileged.

    Shapps was received at the facility by the District Head of Kakuri, Alhaji Shehu Tijjani, officials of the Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Programme (NSRP) and the management of the centre.

    Mr Shapps who interacted freely with the inmates, taking photographs with them, told journalists that the UK government would be paying special attention to the physically challenged people because of the impact of violent conflicts on them and the fact that they would come in handy in peace building.

    Mr Shapps who later inaugurated a 100m pounds public sector accountability and governance programme at the state Government House, said he was impressed by the ability of the inmates to learn quickly and pass the knowledge to those in rural areas.

    The Nation gathered that the centre which was established in 1980 has a population of 150 students who are trained according to each of “the broad categories of the special needs from the visually impaired, physically challenged, to ones with acute mental challenges.”

    For about one and half to two years, students in the centre have learnt various skills that are designed to take them off the streets, reduce the incidence of stigmatisation against them and make them to be more useful to themselves and the society. Besides the skills they have acquired, they have also become change agents in their communities as others who are not as privileged as they are run to them to learn about the school in the centre.

    Queen Davids, one of the visually impaired students at the centre, said she has learnt about the rights of women through various advocacy programmes initiated by the school.

    Davids said she also learnt cake baking, weaving and knitting, keeping the home and environment clean and her communication ability has improved since she came to the school. She said parents of physically challenged people in the rural areas are always sceptical releasing their children for training, but that on several occasions, she has become a reference point as they now listen to her whenever she visited the rural areas and talked about her experiences in the school.

    Zainab Ahmed from Makarfi who has spent one and half years in the school called on government to improve the facilities. She recalled that she was always moody and unhappy about her condition (physically challenged) before she was brought to the Centre, but haven met with people and interacted with them, she now sees life from different perspective.

    The Nation learnt that based on the commitment of the teachers and the students, there has been a reduction in the number of gender-based violence in the centre, teenage pregnancy and pregnancy rates within students have dropped drastically, while the students have learned about self esteem, entrepreneurship, human rights, safety and security.

    The NSRP supported by DFID has Inclusive Peace Club in the Centre to deal with gender issues, advocacy programmes and capacity building for the vulnerable and marginalised sections of the communities. Other non-governmental organisations such as Alpha Care, coordinated by Hon. Hassan Abubakar, it was learnt also play significant roles in peace building initiatives in Kaduna state.

    Hon Abubakar told The Nation that the collaboration between NSRP and DFID has benefitted so many non-governmental organisations in the state especially on peace building initiatives and support for the physically challenged.

    Alpha Care, he said, has been able to use drama presentation (Magawatta) on radio and television to promote conflict resolution, democracy and good governance besides creating health awareness and respect for the rights of women and children. He commended the NSRP and DFID for supporting its advocacy programme, saying youth restiveness would reduce if there is adequate investment in capacity building, and free education.

    He urged Governor Nasri el-Rufai to build on the achievements of past administrations in the state, especially in sustaining peaceful coexistence among the various ethnic groups by bringing stakeholders together. Hon Abubakar said noted that the government should not wait until crisis situation before building on the relative peace in the state.

    He said the governor should support initiatives that would make the local government councils’ authorities work together with traditional rulers, religious leaders, youths, women groups and other non-governmental organisations in other to confront the problems of insecurity, unemployment, drug abuse, armed robbery, etc.

     

  • Banire to ministers-designate: key into Buhari’s programme

    Banire to ministers-designate: key into Buhari’s programme

    All Progressives Congress (APC) National Legal Adviser Muiz Banire, SAN, has urged ministers-designate to buy into the vision of President Muhammadu Buhari.

    He believes that after taking the oath of office, they would hit the ground running because of Nigerians’ high expectations.

    Banire spoke at a reception held in his honour for attaining the SAN rank by Muslim groups in the country.

    The senior advocate, however, urged Nigerians to give President Buhari more time to restore sanity and establish efficient institutions, saying it was by so doing that people can benefit from the system.

    He described the election of Buhari as the best option for the country given its present circumstances.

    Dr Banire said the attainment of the SAN’s will spur him to do more in contributing his quota to quick dispensation of justice in the country.

    The former Lagos commissioner for the Environment thanked the organisations for the honour, promising to assist the less privileged.

    Speaking the organisers, Alhaji Musibau Oyefeso, a former Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) chief, said the reception was to appreciate Banire’s exemplary leadership traits for others to emulate him.

    He enjoined Banire to champion more of the fundamental rights of the people as enshrined in the constitution.

    Lagos State Deputy Governor Idiat Adebule, described Banire as a disciplinarian and a great political leader.

    According to her, Dr Banire has always contributed his quota to the development of Lagos and national polity.

    “I thank Allah for him for not only having a doctorate degree in law but also attaining the position of SAN. For us, it is an opportunity to honour him and celebrate what Allah has done for him,” she said.

  • Senate and screening of ministers

    Senate and screening of ministers

    Has the emergence of ministerial nominees, forwarded penultimate week, to the senate, by President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB),after a long wait, finally reconciledthe presidency and the embattled senate leadership, led by the senate president, Bukola Saraki? Maybe. So, can we now say, what political expediency has joined together, the war against corruption, should not put asunder? Time will tell.As the ministers’ list made the news, the senate leadership, which emerged in complete defiance of the preferences of the All Progressive Congress (APC), which commands majority in the senate chambers, finally held a closed-door meeting with PMB, with photo-ops to show.

    For whatever it is worth, the senate president, and his supporters, are basking in the euphoria of the new rapprochement. In the days ahead, wewould know theprice for the ‘new entente’, as the ministers’ screening gets underway; and as the senate president, returns to the Code of Conduct Tribunal, for his trial. As a sign of what is to come, the senate leadership has in its manoeuvre,raised the ante of political negotiation, by providing stringent measures that could unravel the ambition of some ministerial nominees, if the upper chambers would have the courage, to insist on those terms. But can they?

    The two prominent conditions listed by the senate are,that a nominee must secure the support of at least two senators out of three, from the home state of the nominee; that the nominee must produce the asset declaration certificates, issued by the Code of Conduct Bureau;with few other requirements. The senate also gleefully announced theirwillingness to receive petitions, while threatening to thoroughly screen all the candidates, regardless of previous political standing or privileges. As expected, the petitions have started pouring in, and the reasons offered by the petitioners, why the candidates should be disqualified, are as varied as the petitioners.

    In raising the standards, for the screening starting this Tuesday,the senate leadership claimed to have relied on the constitution and the precepts of the upper chambers. The principal constitutional provision on the nomination and confirmation of a ministerial nominee, is section 147(2); which provides that “any appointment to the office of minister of government of the federation shall, if the nomination of any person to such office is confirmed by the senate, be made by the President”. The major requirements listed under section 147(3) and (5), are that the appointment shall conform to section 14(3), which provides for observance of the principle of federal character, and furthermore, that a nominee shall be qualified for election as a member of the House of Representatives.

    The requirement that at least two senators from the nominee’s home state, must support the nominee, which was occasionally applied in the breach, by the former senate, is therefore not based on the constitution; but rather on the whims of the senate. Considering that the support or denial of support by the two senators, is a subjective decision, the chances of abuse, remains high; especially in the states where the senators and the ministerial nominee are from different political parties. That requirement,which has no objective standards, could encourage corrupt inducement or demands.

    This column had previously written on the constitutional powers of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), to help rein in corruption, before its Tribunal summoned the senate president, overan alleged breach of the laws, on asset declaration. The powers and ancillary provisions on CCB are provided for, in the fifth schedule, Part 1, of the 1999 constitution, titled, Code of Conduct for Public Officers. Following Senator Bukola’s arraignment, he had strenuously canvassed, that he was being persecuted, because he emerged the senate president in defiance of some interests; contendingthat many other political office holders, have similarly offended the same laws.

    Ironically, while the senate president is yet to acquit himself of the charges of breach of the laws on asset declaration, the senate which he heads, has chosen to be the chief promoter and defender of the same laws, which their leader had allegedly breached. So, for the first time since 1999, a certificate of asset declaration, by ministerial nominees, have become one of the documents to be submitted to the senate, before any nominee can be confirmed.In fairness to the senate, what is good for the goose, is also good for the gander. I only hope that in seeking their Shakespearian pound of flesh, the senate leadership would apply the laws, and not their whims and caprices.

    By the provisions of paragraph 11(1) of the fifth schedule, Part 1, the requirement of the asset declaration certificate, will apply only to the ministerial nominees who were previously public officers as contemplated by that constitutional provision. Thus all the nominees who had held public office, for instance the two term former governors, who are supposed to have declared their asset “immediately after taking office” and thereafter “at the end of every four years”, as provided by section 11(1), may have multiple asset declaration certificate, or ‘written declarations’ to tender to the senate.

    Considering that many of the senators had argued that other political actors have lived in defiance of the asset declaration requirement of the constitution, are we likely to see some of the nominees capitulate, without any appearance? Assuming the senate leadership carries out this threat, would the president be prevailed upon to seek a political resolution of the trial of the senate president, to assuage the senate to gain his preferred ministers? Should the nominees brave the odds, are we likely to have future allegations of false or forged declaration of assets?Will the imminent imbroglio over the confirmation, signal the end of PMB’Swar on corruption? Questions.

     

  • Ministers: Group seeks amendment of indigeneship provision

    Ministers: Group seeks amendment of indigeneship provision

    A group, the Women for Equity and Fairness Organisation of Nigeria (WEFON), has called for an amendment of Section 147 (3) of the 1999 Constitution. It said it is discriminatory against women.

    The section says: The President shall appoint at least one minister from each state, who shall be an indigene of such state.

    WEFON, supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said there is a threat that a woman married outside her state of birth could be denied ministerial appointments because she is not considered an indigene of her place of marriage.

    It also faulted the inclusion of only three females in the list of 21 ministerial nominees by President Muhammadu Buhari, saying it does not represent 35 per cent. At least nine women should have made the list, the group said.

    WEFON facilitator, Ada Agina-Ude, at a press briefing in Lagos, urged the president to include more women in the next set of ministers. According to her, the number of women currently involved in public decision making is abysmally low.

    She said: “In the current ministerial list, women represent only about a meager 12 per cent. This is not the change Nigerians were looking forward to. There is no way you can move a country forward without the women. They must be carried along. We’re disappointed that out of 21 nominees, there are just three women.

    “Out of the three women, we’re only sure of two. To compound our discomfort, someone raised the issue that Amina Mohammed is not an indigene of Kaduna State, and read out a section in the Constitution that persons appointed as ministers must be indigenes of the states they are representing.

    “This section further puts women at a very big disadvantage. During the last Constitution amendment, we did everything to see that the section is expunged, amended or replaced to reflect the reality on ground. In most cases, because these positions are few and competitive, people will always come up with issues of indigeneship of a married woman.

    “If Amina goes to Gombe, probably there is somebody there penciled for a ministerial position. What they are trying to do is to deprive us of one those three women, and we say absolute No! Our No should go to the Senate, that they should be sensitive to the wishes of Nigerians. Amina Mohammed is eminently qualified to be a minister.”

    Agina-Ude said before the seventh assembly ended, a landmark amendment was made, which is that if a person stays in a place for 10 years, they have the right to aspire to or be elected to any position on behalf of that state. The amendment, she said, is still pending.“

    “We want to appeal to the president, that since he considered Mrs Amina Mohammed good enough to be appointed a minister, we expect him to stand firm in her defence. Of course we need more women in the Federal Executive Council – at least 35 per cent of ministerial positions in this dispensation.”

    The group’s board of trustee member, Nnenna Nwanna, said if a woman can register and vote in her place of marriage, and her vote counted, she has in effect been recognised as being from that place.

    “Was Amina Mohammed not a registered voter in Kaduna? Did her vote not count? Should women leave their husband’s states and return to their father’s state to vote? We need to know,” she asked.

    Agina-Ude, who is Executive Director of Gender Development Action (GADA), which promotes women’s rights, founded WEFON in 2011 as a platform for women who are interested in politics to advocate and sustain pressure for inclusive practices, policies and procedures towards gender equality in politics and decision-making.

    “It is non-partisan. Any woman who is interested in politics, who is committed to increasing women participation Nigerian politics is welcome,” she said.

     

  • A case for ministers

    • Not ‘noise makers’, but policy geeks to give bureaucrats direction

    The nation heaved a sigh of relief when President Muhammadu Buhari forwarded the list of his nominees as ministers to the Senate for approval.

    However, long after the list had been in the possession of Senate President Bukola Saraki and its content declared, words of the President in France that ministers are mere noise makers, while bureaucrats run government departments continue to reverberate.

    At a point, that declaration tended to overshadow the qualities of the 21 men and women that made the list. It did not matter to some Nigerians, including senators, that on the list are former governors, former political party chairmen and ex-senators. They felt, by the statement of the president, ministers would not occupy a pride of place in the administration.

    This would be unfortunate. Ministers are key officials of state who assist the Chief Executive in the formulation of policies and explaining the position of government to the populace. They sit in the Federal Executive Council and have a general overview of the philosophy of the government; and use that in performing the task of reorientation of lower officials and bureaucrats in their departments.

    To claim, therefore, as the president did, that the work of governance is performed by the bureaucrats is misplaced. We believe it was Freudian slip, if jocularly made. It came in response to the pressure for ministers to be named in accordance with provisions of the constitution.

    It is expected that those to be appointed ministers are men of integrity; qualified in their own rights to run the administration of the country. They are men and women of stature who have distinguished themselves in other spheres of life and might have contributed immensely to the making of the government. To dismiss them as noise-makers is to lower their esteem in the eyes of the public and the civil servants.

    We expect so much from President Buhari and his team of ministers. During the election, the president and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) promised to give the entire gamut of public administration a facelift. He pledged himself to offer change. Many of those whose names have appeared on the list before the Senate were involved in the campaign.

    There can be no excuse for failure. We hope the presidential slip would not lead to unnecessary competition and friction between the ministers and the top bureaucrats in the ministries, especially at a time that the president has also promised to restructure the ministries, departments and agencies. They have to work in harmony and it must be made clear that the ministers are the bosses.

    We call on President Buhari to seize the opportunity offered by the administration of oaths  on the new ministers to clear the air. The task ahead is quite enormous. All the ministries must begin to work towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals which the developed world has already achieved; and moved to attaining the newly launched Sustainable development Goals.

    Aside probity that President Buhari promised in his inaugural speech, and to which the world has identified him, clearly formulated policies and efficiency are also expected in a bid to make the country a real giant of Africa.

    The president’s denigrating remark must have informed the view of some senators that the minister-nominees are crooks. This was done without adducing a shred of evidence. Anyone found to be  a crook among them should be dropped during the screening period that we expect to be thorough.

    We support the Senate in committing itself to putting an end to the “bow and go” syndrome. But, as many as pass the test deserve honour. For too long cynicism has trailed the performance of every public official from the day he is sworn in.

    President Buhari has a duty to end this. He needs to assure the country that he was able to come up with the best materials after four months of search, if an anticlimax. It is on this template that he stands any chance of declaring after four years that he has delivered.

  • The ministers we need

    Some of those who are coming in as ministers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria will be stepping into the ring, armed with refurbished old gloves that take us back into a history we always like to forget.

    If we talk of the dominant personalities, they are the same old faces. Those I saw way back in 1999 when we began the democratic session that has brought us this far are still with us; Olusegun Obasanjo, Goodluck Jonathan, Tony Anenih, Olu Falae, Muhammadu Buhari, Abubakar Atiku, Olabode George, John Oyegun, Peter Odili, Orji Kalu, Bukola Saraki, Ogbonnaya Onu etc.

    It is misleading to say they represent a receding age, as one newspaper writer noted the other day about the military elite. If we discern an exiting era we must not be blind to the fact of a dying generation giving birth to kindred spirits. The old order only appears to be giving way: really it is raising a new crop of those who believe in, and practice the old philosophy. So at the end of the day nothing of substance has changed. For instance you may not see an Olusola Saraki again. But you come across a Bukola Saraki who will always stand for what Olusola Saraki stood for.

    It is the same with the political parties. The National Party of Nigeria (NPN) disappeared in law when it was proscribed in late 1983. But its spirit never died. The Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) didn’t die either. Indeed, one group is currently embodying it, not satisfied apparently with simply proclaiming the philosophy of late Chief ObafemiAwolowo in an earlier setting.

    However critics point out that the real tragedy of our politics is not that we didn’thave a change of characters as the years rolled by. There is nothing truly wrong in the long run if you have the same personalities who would move with the times. The point is that they must not drag the bad elements of the past into the present and the future. So the sad news is that those who stay in the saddle in Nigeria corrupt the system with stagnation either through senescent politics and policies brought from the dead past or through their entrenchment of Neanderthal institutions they symbolize.

    When the politicians went on the hustings as the electoral umpire permitted them a few months to the first of the staggered poll in early 2015, these politicians sought to secure our vote by presenting their manifestoes. But as we have said above, their bouquets of “action plan” are tweaked documents. They are a menu we are familiar with. We consumed them in the past. They never nourished us. Instead they turned us into kwashiorkor children not growing and developing according to our age. We are rather under-growing and under-developing, long after the colonial precursor performed the hatchet man’s job.

    What these compatriots want from us is power, authority streaming from the ballot box. They want the green light from us to rule. They want a mandate to make them to be known as holders of a sacred calling. Truly, that is what it is; the public office figure (elected or appointed) is set apart for exemplary sober conduct: a good leader is like a god on Mount Olympus, not given to the foibles of the common folk under him, yet bound to a life of service to meet their needs, even to the point of self-immolation.

    Several centuries ago in ancient Egypt, the king looked across the room where he and his kitchen cabinet were mulling a looming famine.He sought a man of honour to manage the state and the agro-economy in the time of the prosperity that would precede the drought. He found none!

    Today Nigerians are also searching for astute leaders to take charge of the vast riches, enormous human resources and unquantifiable potential of their country. There is a fatal disconnect between these enormous wealth God has given Nigeria and the crippling poverty therein. The missing link is a leader (or leaders) to mediate between our wealth and our challenges. Wealth and poverty are strange bedfellows. We need leaders to break the bond between them.

    The Egyptian monarch did not get the leader he needed from among his people. Not from the regular corps of politicians either. But he created one through quite unorthodox means. What a difference that made!

    Nigerians must create their own leader and expect him to kowtow to them and their needs. We don’t need a Frankenstein’s monster. What those who went about doing during the campaign season, meeting journalists and announcing high-sounding manifestoes want to give us now isn’t what we need. We should let them know that a genuine leader is not denominated in naira and kobo, or in any other financial benchmark for that matter. Genuine leaders do not transact their business with the electorate on a cash-and-carry basis. Our dream leader’s chief armour and ammunition are probity and selflessness, amounting to complete surrender of self.

    When that grundnorm is settled, we want to tell the leaders of Nigeria of 2015 and thereafter that what we need from them is to top their agenda with a powerful and non-negotiable policy to address the issues of redistribution of the national wealth and youth and women empowerment. If you handle these adroitly, you would be taking care of insecurity and the future. A society prospers and declines according to how it treats its youths and women.

    The citizens must be radicalized to let those who got our vote know it isn’t what they want that matters. What we need should drive them and their passion to the level where they would be happy poorer materially but fulfilled in service upon leaving office than when they got there!

    But I beg to ask somewhat like Pharaoh: “Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is…so discreet and wise (honest, blameless, transparent, selfless, unquestionable integrity)?

     

    • Ojewale, a journalist, sent this article from Ota, Ogun State.
  • Photo: Copy of the ministerial list

    Photo: Copy of the ministerial list


    [caption id="attachment_439221" align="alignleft" width="411"]Cover Page Cover Page[/caption]                               Ministerial List 1

  • Screening of ministerial nominees begins on Oct 13

    Screening of ministerial nominees begins on Oct 13

    Screening of the ministerial nominees is to commence on Tuesday, October 13.

    Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki announced the screening date after announcing the names of the nominees contained in the letter from President Muhammadu Buhari.

    He said the curriculum vitae of the nominees will be circulated to the Senators ahead of the screening.

    The nominees are :

    Babatunde Fashola

    Rotimi Amaechi

    Dr Kayode Fayemi

    Senator Chris Ngige

    Dr Ogbonaya Onu

    Malami Abubakar (SAN)

    Aisha Jumai Alhassan

    Mrs Amina Mohammed Ibrahim

    Mrs Kemi Adeosun

    Emmanuel Kachikwu

    Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahman Bello Dambazzau (rtd)

    Senator Hadi Sirika

    Dr Osagie Ehanire

    Senator Udoma Udo-Udoma

    Ahmed Isa Ibeto

    Engineer Sulaiman Adamu

    Ibrahim Usman Jibril

    Adebayo Shittu

    Chief Audu Ogbeh

    Alhaji Lai Mohammed

    Solomon Dalong

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  • Ministerial nominees, female lawyers cry of marginalization

    Ministerial nominees, female lawyers cry of marginalization

    [dropcap]I[/dropcap]nternational Federation of Women Lawyers, (FIDA) has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of marginalizing the women folk in the list of ministerial nominees submitted to the Senate for screening.

    Chairperson of the Kwara state FIDA, Mrs. Oluronke Adeyemi ‎said this yesterday in Ilorin, the state capital as parts of activities to mark its week.

    ‎Mrs. Adeyemi said that: “We are surprised with just one lady among the ministerial nominees. It is not acceptable to us and other women in the country. Nigeria have women who merit the ministerial list.

    “We support the president’s effort at appointing credible people. He should appoint credible people even if they are all from the same state. Nigerians should learn to do things in a new way. Whether all the ministers are Christian, Muslim or from one part of the country, all we need are competent people to drive the nation to greater height but number of women should be increased because we have many of them who have impact in their chosen careers.”

    On the theme of this year’s celebration titled “Protecting the Children, securing our future, she said that the society cannot continue to pretend that all is well the Nigerian children which was why the association is calling the attention of all to the plight.

    She said “many children have been assaulted, some were poured hot water, some burnt, mercilessly beaten while others were put to hard labour. Many of them lived among us and we have invited about 350 teachers across the state to come and listen to experts talk on how to identify these categories of children and how to access help for them.

    On rights of children, Adeyemi said ‎there are laws in place on abuse of children but people are not willing to press charges.

    “Those who inflict pains on children does that on orphans. The problem is a systemic issue and to solve the problem of children abuse there should be laws allowing taking children away from the cruel hand. It is working in Kwara state already and a family court has been established in Kwara to look at domestic violence including children’s maltreatment,” she added

    ‎She stated further while condemning Boko Haram attacks in the country that their programme is targeted at preventing another set of Boko Haram with FIDA week this year.

    She added that “any child raised with cruelty will grow up to be cruel. We have no value for human lives; It obvious that they aren’t fighting to Islamise Nigeria but to destroy the country. I Prayed for President to succeed in the war against terror and I urged all Nigerians to support the government. I believed in discipline but discouraged been cruel to children.”

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  • Ministers: Senate may dump ‘bow and go’ practice

    Ministers: Senate may dump ‘bow and go’ practice

    The practice of “bow and go” accorded to Senators and members of House of Representatives nominated  as ministers may be jettisoned by the Senate during the screening of President Muhammadu Buhari’s ministerial nominees on Tuesday.

    The list of the much awaited ministerial nominees will be unveiled  by Senate President, Bukola Saraki, during Tuesday’s plenary.

    The Chairman, Senate ad-hoc committee on media and publicity, Senator Dino Melaye, insisted in Abuja that the screening of the ministerial nominees will not be business as usual.

    Melaye said,” The era of ‘bow and go’ should be regarded a thing of the past since only the right nominees would scale through Senate screening crucible.

    Also setting the terms for screening of the nominees, Senator representing Abia North, Mao Ohuabunwa, told reporters on Monday that though the Senate would be guided by the constitution and Senate rules, the lawmakers had resolved to be quite stringent in their approach.

    Ohuabunwa noted that if Senators and members of the House are on the list, they would be accorded respect but should be made to speak to Nigerians through their representatives in the Senate.

    The Senate, he said, will make sure that whoever is nominated as minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria must be somebody “worth his salt. That is somebody we can rely upon and somebody who would have met the constitutional requirements of their appointments.”

    “The list will be unveiled on Tuesday, the Senate President kept to his word that the envelope will remain sealed until Tuesday.

    “We know that all we have been reading could be speculations until it is opened.

    “It will be read on the floor of the House and we will know. Even the 21 that people are speculating will be ascertained on Tuesday.”

    On Senate tradition of “bow and go” for Senator-nominees, he said, “We will be guided by the constitution and the rules of the Senate. This time around we have resolved that we are going to be quite stringent.”