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The Criteria For Buhari’s
Ministers
President Muhammadu Buhari’s two-month-long delay
in presenting his list of ministers to the Senate for
screening and confirmation has generated concern in many
quarters over the direction of his administration as well
as its workability.
However, the recent report that 33 of
36 ministerial nominees failed the integrity test conducted
by various organs of government adds a new twist to the
circumstances of the forthcoming cabinet.
According to the report, routine background checks on
the nominees by security agencies like the Nigeria Police,
the Department of State Services (DSS), the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
and Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC)
revealed instances of past involvement in fraudulent
activities, including misappropriation of public funds
among other sins. This development is remarkable in
many respects.
For the first time, at least since the return to civil
rule in 1999, Nigerians can see a departure from the
usual screening of nominees for political office that
always returned them with a clean bill of health.
Usually, any nominee scheduled for such security
screening automatically came clean, his or her past
sins notwithstanding.
The situation was so graphic that even individuals that
were known in the public domain as persons with
questionable character were cleared by the security
agencies involved.
The merit of the present development manifests in at least
two dimensions. First, it demonstrates the extent of the
collapse of values in our society and the associated rot in
public service whereby many of the leading lights are
actually villains who should be in jail.
Given the tradition through which ministerial nominees
emerge, the failed nominees must have been persons of
significant social standing with the much vaunted electoral
value, but whose bases were actually built on
questionable premises. Also, the development has sent a
signal that nomination to public office, at least during the
Buhari era, is not going to be business as usual.
With the emerging drama, however, the government
should carefully identify and engage worthy Nigerians
with the requisite criteria to occupy ministerial and other
offices in the administration in order for the country to
make progress. At least, they are available within and
outside the country.
Besides, the development should serve, for the
administration and the country, as a wake-up call for
launching the clean-up of the socio-political system in
pursuit of the change in the conduct of government
business which we all desire for our nation.
In the interest of equity, the treasury looters so
identified by default should not go scot-free, but serve as
the starting point of the cleansing programme of the
administration.
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