The Nigerian Senate this week, concluded the screening of ministerial nominees and confirmed all of President Buhari’s 43 nominees for appointment into the cabinet. The exercise was however met with disappointment and criticism as Nigerians felt that the screening done by the Senate lacked depth and seriousness. The Senate commenced screening on Wednesday, July 24 2019, after receiving a list of 43 ministerial nominees from President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday, July 23 2019, 54 days after being sworn in for a second term. The list consisted of 36 male and 7 female nominees, 14 of which had served in the President’s cabinet during his first term in office. It also featured nominees from all States of the Federation. The composition of the list has drawn criticism from various quarters. While Senator Philip Aduda and Senator Dino Melaye pointed out the absence of a nominee from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), women groups decried the low number of female nominees, stating that it is not reflective of the 35 percent Affirmative Action for the political participation of women in elective and appointive positions. The absence of portfolios for the nominees also raised questions about the quality of the screening process, as there were no target subject areas on which to base questions for the nominees. The list has been generally described as uninspiring and lacking any element of novelty, as a good number of the nominated persons previously served in President Buhari’s first term in office, without providing notable transformation, making Nigerians question the possibility of an improved performance of the President Buhari-led administration.
The screening process which is supposed to be a platform for the legislative arm of government and Nigerians to engage the nominees on issues in order to get a feel of the competence of the individuals who have been recommended to serve in the President’s cabinet, has been perceived as being unreflective of this purpose. Within the first two days of the exercise, 15 out of 23 nominees were asked to take a bow at the Senate chamber, without being asked any questions. While this has been a tradition in the Senate for nominees who are former legislators, many Nigerians do not see reason for extending the same treatment to some other nominees who do not fall within this category. This development is indicative of a rather weak level of legislative scrutiny over the activities of the executive arm of government and questions the ability of the Senate to effectively carry out checks and balances on the executive arm of government.