Against the Senate’s earlier stance that the policy of ‘take a bow and go’, will not apply to any of the 43 Ministerial nominees, 18 out of the 31 nominees it attended to as at Friday last week, have enjoyed the special treatment , drawing criticisms from the public. Taiye Odewale reports.
Promised departure from the past
On Tuesday last week when the list of the 43 ministerial nominees were read on the floor of the Senate by its president, Senator Ahmad Lawan, and resolution taken for immediate commencement of screening and possible confirmation of the nominees as requested for by President Muhammadu Buhari, the Senate had promised to carry out the exercise very thoroughly and differently from the ones done in the past.
Specifically, according to its spokesperson, Senator Adedayo Adeyeye (APC Ekiti South), who addressed the press on that day on how the screening exercise will be conducted, amongst others the age long tradition of ‘take a bow and go’ privilege normally accorded former or serving federal lawmakers, who falls into such category, would not be expressly applied.
“All categories of nominees, including serving or former federal lawmakers, will be made to speak to the Senate and by extension, Nigerians, on what they are bringing on board in complementing the next level policy direction of the federal government “, he said.
But as at Friday last week, the third day of the screening exercise, 18 out of the 31 ministerial nominees attended to, so far by the Senate, were accorded the privilege of take a bow and go with attendant backlashes from the public.
Criticism trials failed promise
Criticisms against the policy by some critically minded Nigerians were further fuelled by the fact that the policy, which began in 2003 as a privilege strictly meant for nominees who had been elected to the Senate in the past, has now been extended to all persons who had had legislative experience both at federal and state levels.
Other categories of ministerial nominees who now enjoy “the bow and go” privilege are all female nominees, all nominees from the state of origin of incumbent senate president, as well as national officers of the ruling party.
Late Senator Wahab Dosumu, who represented Lagos Central senatorial district between 1999 and 2003 was the first to enjoy the privilege when he was appointed minister in 2004 after defecting from the then Alliance for Democracy (AD) to the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Beneficiaries
Among President Muhammadu Buhari’s 43 nominees who have so far enjoyed this special privilege include Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), George Akume (Benue), Emeka Nwajuaba (Imo), Adeleke Mamora (Lagos), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers).
Others are Tayo Alasoadura (Ondo), Mustapha Baba Shehuri (Borno) and Timipre Sylva (Bayelsa), Senator Hadi Sirika , Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo (Ekiti), Chris Ngige (Anambra), Muhammadu Musa Bello (Adamawa) etc.
The olive branch was also extended to Abubakar Aliyu (Yobe). Although he is not a former lawmaker, Senate Leader, Abdullahi Yahaya, called on his colleagues to grant him the privilege of not being questioned on the grounds that his brother was not only an ex-lawmaker but that he is a constituent of the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan.
Also excluded from scrutiny were four female nominees: Sharon Ikeazor (Anambra), Ramatu Aliyu (Kogi) and Sa’adiya Umar Farouk (Zamfara) and Paulen Tallen (Plateau).
CSO, others kick
But some civil society organisations have expressed disappointment with the Senate for not only applying the policy to serving and former federal lawmakers but extending it to other categories of nominees like those who are female under the guise of gender sensitivity, some former ministers and chieftains of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Barrister Frank Tietie, Executive Director, Citizens’ Advocacy for Social and Economic Rights (CASER) in statement issued Thursday, said: “The way the Senate is going about it shows that it is also confirming the fears of all those who thought that this current leadership of the National Assembly would be a rubber stamp one.
“The citizens of the country should now be more afraid that when legislative scrutiny appears to be lax, what will suffer is the principle of checks and balances which would have improved the performance of government which will ultimately translate to the well being of the people”.
Also condemning the policy in another statement last week Friday, Austine Aigbe of Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) said: “What we see now is that you are a former senator, former house member, so you bow and go. The funny one is that your brother used to be a member of the National Assembly and you come from the area where the Senate President is from and because of that, you take a bow? What does that add up to the Nigerian state? It is a weird scenario that we find ourselves.
“But I think the Senate owes Nigerians a duty to engage these nominees on topical issues cum challenges that the country is facing.
“There is insecurity, corruption, poverty. So, we need to address all of this. The nominees must be able to tell us how they will address the economy so that Nigerians can follow them up.
“As journalists and civil societies, that is the only way you can follow them up. From the way it is now, we can’t follow them up because they never said anything. So, we can’t engage them. The Senate is not helping the Nigerian people to have good governance that we all yearn for. I think we are in a very pathetic situation.”
Even senators bark at it
The criticisms that has greeted the application of the policy even began from the within the Senate on Thursday last week with the Minority leader of the Senate, Enyinnaya Abaribe, drawing the attention of the Senate to the negative effects of the policy.
He noted that in global parliamentary practices, confirmation hearings are conducted for nominees to assess their competence and qualifications for the appointment of being a minister, saying “confirmation hearings are different from endorsement hearings.
“Section 147 (2) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which granted the Senate the power to confirm ministerial appointments does not envisage the take a bow and go policy for almost all the nominees.
“This is a confirmation hearing, it is not an endorsement hearing and I so move that we abide by what the constitution says”, he explained.
Why adopted- Lawan
However, the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, in his response, defended the policy.
“We have agreed on a policy on how we go about the screening, I just want to reiterate that policy and to say that we will extend the privilege to members of the legislature even at states level. The procedure we have adopted is to ask the two leaders in the House, the senate leader and senate minority leader to speak on our behalf and then I round off”, he said.
However, the presidency in its response to the whole exercise, described it as credible and patriotism -driven.
Making the commendation on Friday at a media briefing, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Solomon Ita Enang, said the presidency was impressed with the high sense of patriotism and service displayed by the Senate in carrying out the screening exercise.
“For the first time since 1999, the Senate had never sat on a Friday or Monday for such an exercise, which the Ninth Senate is doing now, not to talk of suspension of its standing rules to sit for longer hours on daily basis.
“Within three days, it had screened 31 out of the 43 nominees, which has given clear indication that it will finish the exercise latest by Tuesday ( today ) for Mr President to have his cabinet in place as soon as possible”, he said.
