Jonathan appoints Pius Anyim as SGF •Dissolves cabinet •Retains Azazi as NSA •FG sends list of nominees for security checks

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has approved the appointment of Senator Anyim Pius Anyim as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF),

just as he also dissolved the cabinet, based on the letters of appointment issued to appointed political office holders, which terminated such appointments on May 29, 2011.

According to a presidency statement issued on Monday night in Abuja, Anyim would be sworn in today at the Executive Council Chambers at 12 noon.

Also, President Jonathan has approved the re-appointment of General Andrew Azazi as the National Security Adviser.

Meanwhile, the presidency has sent the list of nominees for appointment compiled from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory by the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to three of the nation’s security agencies for screening.

It was confirmed that the agencies in question include the police, the State Security Service (SSS) and the Nigeria Intelligence Agency (NIA).

Sources close to the government confirmed that though not all of the nominees would emerge on the ministerial list, the wholesome screening is to facilitate future appointments to be made by the administration. For instance, while some of those on the list of 270 presented by the PDP would be made ministers, some would emerge as ambassadors, while others would be made chairmen and members of government’s parastatals, agencies.

Sources said that the names and details of the candidates had been distributed among the relevant agencies so that appropriate profiles of each of them would be presented to the presidency.

It was gathered that the agencies would send officials to schools attended by the nominees, as well as get required details from close associates.

“The essence of the checks is to ensure that persons of questionable characters do not emerge as ministers, ambassadors and chairmen of boards,” a source said, adding that even those who were recently cleared by the different agencies are still being screened afresh.

It was gathered that some serving ministers whose names appeared on the PDP list and those who were added by the presidency were being made to face fresh screening, notwithstanding the fact that many of them faced the same screening last year.

Sources further confirmed that the agencies were given strict orders by the authorities to conduct the exercise with utmost secrecy.

On the need for fresh screening for all nominees, a source said that the president had observed that the National Assembly relied much on the security reports compiled by the agencies to clear the nominees.

“Considering the fact that the Senate does not have the time to set up a fresh screening exercise, when the names of either ministers or ambassadorial nominees gets to them, the presidency has insisted that the security outfits do their jobs thoroughly so as to help the lawmakers and even the appointive authority arrive at the right decisions,” another source said.

Sources, however, said that since most of the state chapters of the agencies had received the names last week, it was possible that the security reports on the nominees would arrive in Abuja by weekend.

A source said that once the general security details were sketched out, the president would then forward those being considered for ministerial positions to the same agencies for eligibility reports.

“The general investigations being conducted do not foreclose specific reports on the individuals. Once the president concludes on who would be sent to the Senate for ministerial positions, the list will return to the security agencies so that they can link the general profiles earlier compiled with specific appointments,” a source stated on Monday.