This week, Nigerians will finally breathe a sigh of relief when Senate President Bukola Saraki ultimately opens an historic envelope he received on behalf of the entire Senate amidst fanfare last week Wednesday.
The envelope, both the senator’s and the president’s offices claimed, contained a list of about 21 individuals whom President Muhammadu Buhari finally zeroed-in on during his quest for distinguished cabinet members.
For Nigerians and foreigners who have business interests in the country, it’s been a long wait, as Mr. Buhari has not only failed to form his cabinet since he assumed office on May 29, he has, in a similar vein, repeatedly warned Nigerians that he was not in a hurry to do so.
Senate hearings on the president’s nominees put the would-be ministers on notice. Sometimes, however, the senators’ vetting of some nominees can take preposterous dimensions.
More often than not, senators are disposed to the prosaic parlance of asking candidates to “bow and go.” The positive posture that the last general elections accorded Nigeria’s political system should proscribe this.
The Senate President agreed this much when he said all Nigerians would be proud of the outcome of the screening exercise.
For this to materialise, here are four random questions the senators must ask the nominees:
Senate hearings on the president’s preferred nominees to drive his policy thrusts will be a distinctive Abuja entertainment, a donnybrook without the drama. They should be confirmed because presidents are accorded substantial deference in selecting cabinet members as they administer presidential policies and, unlike judicial appointments, they leave when their nominators do.