[caption id="attachment_31538" align="alignnone" width="400"] Senator Bukola: All eyes on him as ministerial screening continues next week.[/caption] Buhari’s ministerial nominees give perspectives on national issues and development at Senate Screening and these are a precursor to what will happen as the exercise continues next week By Ayorinde Oluokun/Abuja. After a wait of over four months, the process of bringing in the men and women who will work with President Muhammadu Buhari to “change,” Nigeria as stated in the manifesto of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC has began to crystallize with the approval of 18 ministerial nominees for appointment by the President by the Senate last Wednesday. The ministerial nominees were cleared after two days of intensive screening include Senator Udoma Udo-Udoma, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Chief Audu Ogbeh, Chief Ogbonnaya Onu, Dr. Osage Ehanire, Lt. Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazzau, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Amina Mohammed and Suleiman Adamu. Also cleared were Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, Senator Chris Ngige, Abubakar Malami (SAN), Senator Aisha Alhassan, Mr. Solomon Dalong, Kemi Adeosun, Mr. Hadi Sirika and Ibrahim Jibril. [caption id="attachment_31066" align="alignright" width="400"] Fashola: “I have remained loyal to courses that I have signed unto and in all my life, nobody can fairly accuse me of giving my word and going back on my word.”[/caption] The intended screening dominated public discussion in the past one week, especially with the Senators vowing that the nominees will be subjected to thorough screening and protests against the presence of some personalities among the intended ministers. However, in spite of the huffing and puffing of Senators, the screening of the ministerial nominees which was streamed live on television and on the internet yielded tremendously for Nigerians as it provided insights into the nominees as well as the changes they will want to see in the various areas of national life when they become ministers. Though the President did not attach portfolios to the names of the nominees, Senators however grilled them on the area they might be asked to superintend over based on their qualifications and previous areas of employments. Some of the nominees who have held public offices were also given the opportunity of defending their records. Also, through their impressive delivery and display of mastery of the subjects they spoke on disabuse the minds of those who have written off the ministerial list. [caption id="attachment_29036" align="alignright" width="350"] Kachikwu: “My analysis over the last six weeks confirms a consistent 25 to 27 per cent performance level (of the refineries), because the issue is not an upsurge. On average, our performance level is between 25 and 27 per cent, so if we can’t run them, then we need to get out, make adequate arrangements to privatise them and take them out.”[/caption] There was no doubt that one of those whose screening was very much anticipated was former Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola. The former Governor who was grilled for over one hour during which Senators posed questions to him based on his eight years tenure as chief executive of Lagos State, allegations that he spent N78 million on his website and almost N200 million on the construction of boreholes and on the issue of loyalty. If he was rattled by the questions, the former Governor did not show it as he noted that nobody had accused him of corruptly enriching himself. Fashola also noted that all procurements under his administration usually went through a process involving agencies saddled with responsibilities for each area. “I have remained loyal to courses that I have signed unto and in all my life, nobody can fairly accuse me of giving my word and going back on my word,” the Governor said in response to the question on his definition of loyalty. Other highlights of Fashola’s screening include his recommendation that production can be stimulated through taxes, decentralisation of the police, and diversification of the economy. “One of the ways in which we can stimulate the economy of this country at this moment when there is a need, in any event, to move away from oil, is to encourage productivity and to allow the states which generate the most in terms of these taxes to keep as much of them. Competition has always been known to stimulate productivity and as much as I can say that I have not probably travelled to all the 36 states of Nigeria, the knowledge and information available suggest to me clearly that no state in this country is unable to undertake some kind of productive activity; whether from minerals in most rural areas, whether it is processing cocoa, whether it is timber processing, and so on,” [caption id="attachment_33782" align="alignright" width="400"] Kemi Adeosun: Harped on the need for diversification of the economy[/caption] Fashola said. “Those kinds of multiplier activities support the growth of industries and are accountable to happenings across the nation,” he added. While noting that the country currently has less than 500,000 policemen to its population of over 180 million, the former Governor said the argument that State police would be abused for political purposes does not hold water: “I have heard the argument that (state) governments will abuse the police for political purposes. But the abuse of political power is not as important as loss of lives. And everything we do to advance that course makes us more respected as a government that cares.” He also spoke on the Federal Capital Territory and what should be done to turn the city around as well as the need for Nigeria to borrow funds for infrastructural development. Fahola’s brilliant outing was followed by another excellent presentation by Ibe Kachikwu, the Group Managing Director of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC. Kachikwu was appointed the NNPC GMD about two months ago by President Buhari and with his nomination as minister, the lawmakers believe he will be given the petroleum portfolio. It was therefore not a surprise that the questions directed at him were based on how he is going to tackle the problems in the oil industry and ongoing reforms of the sector which he initiated after his appointment. A key revelation of Kachikwu during the screening was that Nigeria has been losing about $15 billion annually due to the failure of the National Assembly to pass the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB). This, according to him is because non passage of the bill has brought about a lot of uncertainty which has constituted impediments to investments. He however said he will not allow the ongoing reform of the sector to be held down by non passage of PIB. Rather than seek to go the whole hog, Kachikwu advised the Senate to pass aspects of the Bill that are less contentious. “So I will urge this revered Senate to fairly quickly come to terms, find a way of working with us and go ahead and pass those elements of the PIB where there’s no much contention.” On the refineries, the NNPC GMD told the Senators that Nigeria’s three refineries were currently working at the rate of 25 to 27 per cent of installed capacity. This is in contrast to information by the NNPC just before his appointment that the refineries were working at 65 per cent of installed capacity. [caption id="attachment_29151" align="alignright" width="400"] Aisha Alhassan:“Corruption in the judiciary has little or nothing to do with giving or taking of money. When a judge or judicial officer exercises his discretion injudiciously, that is corruption. When a bailiff refuses to go and process and waits for any of the counsel to come and see him that is corruption. When a lawyer advises his client who pleads or who confesses the commission of an offence and he tells him, when you go before the court say you are not guilty, that is also corruption.”[/caption] The NNPC boss also dismissed rumours of fuel scarcity in the country, saying NNPC has enough petrol in stock that can serve the nation for at least, 40 days. “My analysis over the last six weeks confirms a consistent 25 to 27 per cent performance level, because the issue is not an upsurge. On average, our performance level is between 25 and 27 per cent, so if we can’t run them, then we need to get out, make adequate arrangements to privatise them and take them out,” said Kachikwu who added that it was an embarrassment that Nigeria refineries were not functioning when smaller neighbouring countries like Ghana, Niger and Chad can refine their own products. On the issue of corruption within NNPC, Kachikwu said the issue is overblown as 80 per cent of the staff was persons of integrity, adding that only 20 per cent of them were bad eggs. He also spoke on the subsidy on kerosene as well as the plans of NNPC to start giving free cylinders to Nigerians to encourage them to switch to gas for domestic cooking. Ms. Adeosun, the nominee from Ogun State harped on the need for diversification of the economy in another brilliant outing during the screening. She added that youths should be encouraged to get entrepreneurial skills with which they can create jobs and wealth. Senator Alhassan, another female nominee was however more eager to let the world know that her nomination by the President was not intended to force her to withdraw her challenge of the results of the governorship election of her home state, Taraba. The nominee who was the gubernatorial candidate of APC in the 2015 general elections said the President is a man of integrity who will not stop her by giving her an option to take a ministerial position and withdraw her petition against the election. However, the Senator took her up on the issue of corruption in the judiciary being a former Registrar of Federal Capital Territory High Court. “Corruption in the judiciary has little or nothing to do with giving or taking of money. When a judge or judicial officer exercises his discretion injudiciously, that is corruption. When a bailiff refuses to go and process and waits for any of the counsel to come and see him that is corruption. When a lawyer advises his client who pleads or who confesses the commission of an offence and he tells him, when you go before the court say you are not guilty, that is also corruption.” [caption id="attachment_30560" align="alignright" width="275"] Simon Lalong:Lamented that cattle rustling is negatively affecting livestock industry in Nigeria[/caption] Other ministerial nominees screened on Wednesday include Barrister Solomon Dalong, a human rights activist who lamented that cattle rustling is negatively affecting livestock industry in Nigeria and Senator Hadi Sirika who said Nigeria needed a national carrier to stop outflow of funds to outside the country. “Over 90 percent of earnings in the aviation sector are being taken by the international airlines and bilateral agreements are lopsided because we don’t have our own national carrier,” said Sirika. In all, eight nominees were screened by the Senators on Wednesday. The lawmakers had on Tuesday screened 10 nominees with Senator Udo Udoma, a technocrat and private sector player taking the lead. In the brief speech he made before he was asked to “bow and go,” as a former lawmaker, Udoma had dwelled on the need to diversify the economy in face of the liquidity challenges being faced by the country. “We cannot turn this economy around if we rely solely on public sector; we have to focus on the private sector. I speak the language of the private sector. Since I am going into the private sector I understand them well,” Udoma who added that he is ready to hit the ground running once he is sworn into office said. The former Senator who was former chairman of Security and Exchange Commission, SEC said there is also the need to improve Nigeria’s investment climate and made policies more stable if Nigeria wants to attract foreign investment. Former Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi was the second nominee that was screened by the Senate on Tuesday. The lawmakers asked him different questions on foreign policy, his service in Ekiti State, Nigeria’s justice system, how to alleviate poverty and unemployment and so on. The former governor said the Nigeria must close the gap between the rich and the poor if it is serious about alleviating poverty. “Poverty is clearly deep in our country. If you look at our manifesto, we put it at a figure of about 110 million Nigerians who live below the two dollar per day margin in our country. It is not really poverty, it is inequality. You cannot have progress in any country, where one per cent of the population controls 80 per cent of the resources,” said Fayemi. [caption id="attachment_32827" align="alignright" width="400"] Hadi Sirika:“Over 90 percent of earnings in the aviation sector are being taken by the international airlines and bilateral agreements are lopsided because we don’t have our own national carrier.”[/caption] He also said to tackle the problem of poverty, the problem of corruption must also be tackled: “The second issue to tackle, which I believe our government is taking head long is corruption. The amount of leakages in the system in our country is unacceptable and we need to do something fundamental about it. Leadership by example would have to be where to start. We need to reduce significantly the recurrent expenditure in our country. We also need to ensure that crime is linked to sanctions so that impunity will not continue to drive the country deeper and deeper into poverty.” The former Governor also said Nigeria must diversify its economy, create new job opportunities and devolve more powers from the centre to the state and local government level to be able to tackle poverty. “Poverty is not inevitable, we have a lot of countries like China that has lifted its people from poverty. Poverty is the problem between the mindlessly rich and hopelessly,” Fayemi said. On foreign policy, Fayemi told the Senators that Nigeria’s domestic agenda does not really drive our Foreign Policy currently and that the situation must change. He however noted that President Buhari is doing a lot on foreign policy with recognition that Nigeria’s neighbours are her first call of interest. On education, Fayemi said Nigeria needs to make public schools attractive, increase enrolment, curriculum, teacher quality as well as technical and vocational learning to improve the sector. He also answered questions on the controversies surrounding his tenure as governor of Ekiti State. The third nominee to be screened was former National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Audu Ogbeh. The nominee who introduced himself as a farmer said he was asked to come and serve because the President asked him. “Since I left office in the Second Republic as minister, I have been in school, not in any classroom but in the school of life, travelling around the world and exploring agriculture, why we are failing where others are succeeding,” said Audu who was asked various questions on agriculture. He lamented the current state of its economy while affirming that with the nation’s projected population for the next 35 years; the country’s future is bleak if it does not take steps to develop its economy. Ogbeh who was a minister in Nigeria second republic said Nigeria should invest more on the agricultural sector in order to provide jobs for the rising population, as well as boost investment opportunities. [caption id="attachment_31804" align="alignright" width="360"] Kayode Fayemi:“Poverty is clearly deep in our country. If you look at our manifesto, we put it at a figure of about 110 million Nigerians who live below the two dollar per day margin in our country. It is not really poverty, it is inequality. You cannot have progress in any country, where one per cent of the population controls 80 per cent of the resources.”[/caption] He also lamented that with the current rate of interest in the country, there is little productive activity that can be done: “Nigeria’s interest rates is the highest in the world. How can you do business and make money. Except you are into cocaine or some very harmful drugs, you can’t make profit with Nigeria’s high interest rate.” He said also that most of Nigerian universities have become intellectual ghettos while responding to a question on political parties’ management in Nigeria. He however refused to answer a question on whether he was forced at gun point to resign as PDP chairman, during President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government. Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, former governor of Abia State was screened after Ogbeh. The former governor who said there are many abnormalities in Nigeria was asked to speak on the problem of high rate of unemployment in Nigeria before he will “bow and go.” Onu who had in a brief speech he delivered at the commencement of his screening that Nigeria is a rich nation said the country must change from being a consuming to a producing nation if it wants to tackle the problem of unemployment. “We need to produce more in the areas of agriculture, solid minerals and services…,” he said. He said Nigeria must diversify its source of power, arguing that Nigeria’s coal which he described as one of the best in the world because of its low sulphur content, and so it should be harnessed to generate enough power that will lead to industrialization of the country. He noted that Tanzania had shut its hydro power stations due to paucity of rainfall. “Power is central to many of the things we are going to do in this our great country,” he said. He was followed by Dr. Osagie Ehanire, an from Edo State nominee who described himself as long time associate of President Buhari, having been working to ensure his election as President since 2003. As a medical doctor, the questions the Senators asked the nominee to respond to were basically about the health sector. Ehanire told the Senators that the problems of strike in the Nigeria health sector can end if government will keep to agreements. He added that some Nigerians are going abroad for treatment because they lack confidence in the local health sector. The nominee who said the fight against corruption must be taken to the health sector advocated improved training, better curriculums and increased consultations among medical doctors as a way of tackling wrong diagnoses by medical personnel. He added that the increasing rate of maternal and infant mortality in the country was due to inadequate medical personnel, health facility and cost of accessing facilities. On wrong medical diagnosis which has led to death of many Nigerians, the ministerial nominee called for better curriculum in schools as well medical personnel consulting each other in serious cases. While emphasizing for improvement in management of hospitals, Dr Enahire advocated for control of practice traditional medicine in the country. [caption id="attachment_32822" align="alignright" width="250"] Audu Ogbeh:“Since I left office in the Second Republic as minister, I have been in school, not in any classroom but in the school of life, travelling around the world and exploring agriculture, why we are failing where others are succeeding.”[/caption] General Abdulrahman Dambazau, a former Chief of Army Staff was another nominee who was grilled by the Senate. As an Army General, the Senators asked Dambazau questions that ranged on security, the ongoing war against Boko Haram, Nigeria’s defence policy as well as welfare of Nigerian troops. The former Chief of Army Staff disputed claims that Nigeria did not have a defence policy. On procurement of arms for the armed forces, Dambazau, explained that as Chief of Army Staff the maximum he could approve and spend was N20m which was later increased to N50m.”Anything above this there is a tenders’ board that would meet to approve the money.” On welfare of troops engaged in the battle against Boko Haram, Dambazzau agreed that the reported N1,000 allowance for soldiers fighting Boko Haram was very poor. He listed some of the benefits enjoyed by soldiers to include ‘death gratuity’ paid to family of soldiers who die before reaching the 10-years gratuity period in the military and so on. According to him, the government should consider public private partnership for operation of Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria while the private sector should be involved in arms manufacturing while DICON acts as watchdog. “I was passionate about the welfare of the military, a reason I came up with the idea of establishing new barracks like the Abacha Barracks,” said the former COAS. The former Chief of Army Staff also said Nigeria needed to take advantage of the UN re-imbursement system, which will ensure discipline in terms of maintenance and also capacity building in terms of equipment like countries like India and Pakistan are doing. Amina Mohammed was also screened by the Senate. The former Senior Special Assistant to the President on Millennium Development Goals, Amina Mohammed who was screened as nominee from Gombe State told the Senators that the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, have succeeded the MDGs. She defined the SDGs, as a set of seventeen goals comprising 169 targets and indicators for reducing poverty and improving environmental sustainability. She also spoke about the operation of Conditional Transfer Scheme Mohammed after which she was asked to bow. Another nominee screened was Suleiman Adamu, nominated to represent Jigawa in the cabinet. He told the Senators that if the manifesto of APC in terms of creation of jobs is to be achieved, there must be improvement in training and skill acquisition so that people should become “employable,” he said. He also talked about investment in infrastructure. “Adequate and potable water supply, I have noticed neither the federal government nor the state government is investing in water infrastructure. Water quality should be enhanced by establishing treatment plants as frequent drilling borehole is to the detriment of ground water available.” [caption id="attachment_31924" align="alignright" width="390"] Dr Ogbonnaya Onu:“We need to produce more in the areas of agriculture, solid minerals and services…”[/caption] The Senate will continue the exercise next Tuesday with the screening of former Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, and Adebayo Shittu, the nominee from Oyo State who are the two candidates left from the first list sent by the President to the lawmakers. The Senate will also screen the 16 nominees in the fresh list read out by Senator Bukola Saraki last Wednesday. Already, there are fears that if next week’s exercise is not well handled, the Senate may descend into rowdiness over the former Rivers State Governor. The former Governor was among the first batch of ministerial nominees submitted to the Senate by President Muhammadu Buhari which was scheduled to have taken place last Thursday, but was postponed till next Tuesday. Amaechi could not be screened last Wednesday because the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions which was saddled with the task of investigation of allegations fraudulent dealings contained against the former Governor contained in a petition submitted by the three Peoples Democratic Party senators on behalf of a group said it is yet to conclude its work. Though the Committee itself had said it could not stop the former Governor because he has challenged issues contained in the petition in court, it was gathered that some PDP members of the Committee are insisting on not giving Amaechi a clean bill of health. Indeed, it was learnt that the deferment of screening of nominees to next Tuesday was because the Committee was unable to produce its report. But Dino Melaye, Chairman of the Senate ad hoc committee on media said the report of the Ethics Committee was ready and will be presented next Tuesday. According to him, the essence of the report is to clear the former governor for screening and it has been resolved that it should come on the same day. But he added that in considering the report, Senate will comply with its rules and regulations that any matter that is in court or that is undergoing judicial remedy cannot be presented or even looked into. “And that is our resolution, because the matter is still undergoing judicial remedy, we cannot look into it. Rotimi Ameachi has no problem,” said Melaye. The Senate spokesperson also said the Senate postponed the screening of nominees in the second list submitted by the President because some of the nominees were yet to submit their resumè and other necessary documents required. “He will be screened and confirmed because he possesses the qualification of a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. As you are aware, Amaechi has not been convicted of any crime,” Senate Leader, Ali Ndume said on Friday.