EFCC rejects 5 ministerial nominees •14 ministers return •Senate begins screening today •Screening to be telecast live

IF some big names are missing from the ministerial list sent to the Senate by President Goodluck Jonathan, it may be largely due to their nomination being shot down by

the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Nigerian Tribune can reliably inform.

The commission, according to a source in the know, vetted all the nominees throughout last week, with five of those on the original list sent to it by the State Security Service (SSS) reportedly receiving vote of no-confidence from the anti-graft agency.

It was gathered that the SSS initially sent controversial nominees to the commission for vetting on alleged corruption issues, with the source disclosing that the commission ended up scrutinising all the nominees.

Nigerian Tribune was told that the last batch of nominees sent to the commission by the SSS was returned to sender at the close of last week, with five nominees indicated as unsuitable for the ministerial job over alleged corruption cases against their names.

The fate of the acting chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Haliru Mohammed, might also be hanging in the balance over the Halliburton scam in which his name had featured prominently.

The source did not confirm whether he was one of the nominees labelled unsuitable by the anti-corruption agency.

Another nominee that had probably failed the vetting of the anti-corruption agency hails from the south-western part of the country and manned a very powerful ministry in the last cabinet.

Though no corruption case against him had come into the open, it was gathered that certain issues of financial mismanagement had been covertly established against him in his place of last assignment.

A new nominee had taken the slot for his state.

Another former minister, who might return to a very powerful portfolio, was said not to have impressed the anti-corruption agency over allegations of massive corruption but there were indications that the nominee could find favour with President Jonathan.

There was no replacement for the nominee yet on his state’s slot, though the nominee’s name was also not on the list yet.

Repeated calls made to the mobile phone of commission’s spokesperson, Mr Femi Babafemi, yielded no result, as he was said to be out of coverage area of the mobile operator.

Meanwhile, President Jonathan, on Tuesday, sent a list of 34 ministerial nominees to the Senate for screening and confirmation. Fourteen of the former 42-member cabinet returned according to the list unveiled in the Senate, on Tuesday.

The president of the Senate, Mr David Mark, read the list comprising 34 names which constituted the first batch of ministerial nominees sent by the president.

President Jonathan, in a letter dated June 27, 2011, asked the Senate to give the screening an expeditious treatment.

The president said he was sending the names in accordance with Section 147(2) of the 1999 Constitution.

It was gathered that senators had, on Tuesday evening, received documents including Curricula Vitae of the nominees and that screening would commence on Wednesday.

Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, had told newsmen on Tuesday that the senators would be ready to commence screening once the documents arrived in the Senate.

Also, on Tuesday, President Jonathan wrote to the Senate requesting the approval of 20 special advisers to be appointed by him.

Senator Ndoma-Egba also hinted at very tough screening for nominees, saying that the era of “bow and go” in the Senate had gone. He added that nominees would face serious questioning according to the mood of the Senate.

Ndoma-Egba spoke against the backdrop of the Senate convention, which allowed former lawmakers the courtesy of taking a bow and being spared questioning during ministerial or ambassadorial screening.

He said: “The current mood of the Senate is that every nominee must be subjected to the same screening and we may start screening today including approving the 20 special advisers requested for by Mr President, so that he can constitute his cabinet immediately,” he said.

The 14 returning ministers included Mr Emeka Wogu (Abia); Senator Bala Mohammed (Bauchi); Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke (Bayelsa); Elder Godsday Orubebe (Delta); Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu (Ebonyi); Navy Captain Caleb Olubolade (retd) (Ekiti); Professor (Mrs) Ruqayyatu Rufai (Jigawa); Dr Shamsudeen Usman (Kano); Mr Mohammed Musa Sada (Katsina); Mohammed Adoke (Kogi); Mr Olusegun Aganga (Lagos); Mr Labaran Maku (Nasarawa); Alhaji Yusuf Suleiman (Sokoto) and Dr Obadiah Ando (Taraba).

Other nominees included Hajia Zainab Maina (Adamawa); Professor Ita Okon Bassey Ewa (Akwa Ibom); Mrs Stella Oduah-Ogiemwonyi (Anambra); Abba Moro (Benue); Dr Samuel Ioraer Ortom; Alhaji Bukar Tijani (Borno); Mr Mike Onole-menem (Edo); Professor Barth Nnaji (Enugu); Senator Idris Umar (Gombe) and Professor (Mrs) Viola Onwuliri (Imo).

Also included on the list were Dr Bello Mohammed (Kebbi); Alhaji Bolaji Abdu-llahim (Kwara); Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru (Ogun); Dr Akinwunmi Adesina (Ogun); Mrs Olusola Obada (Osun); Ms Olajumoke Akinjide (Oyo); Mr Tonye Cole (Rivers); Dr Yerima Lawan Ngama (Yobe); Ambassador Bashir Yuguda (Zamfara) and Hajia Zainab Ibrahim Kuchi (Niger).

It was learnt that the screening would commence at about noon, after the Senate would have granted the request of the president on the appointment of 20 special advisers.

In another development, the Federal Government has defended the list of ministerial nominees sent to the National Assembly for screening and approval.

It said competence, cre-dibility and capacity to deliver services were basic criteria used by President Jonathan in his selection.

Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, disclosed this in Abuja, on Tuesday, when he received members of the Senators’ Forum who paid him a visit in his office.

The senators were led by their chairperson, Senator Khairat Abdulrazaq-Gwadabe.

“The choice of ministers was not based on political considerations alone; competence, credibility and capacity to deliver were considered in order to advance the cause of solving national challenges,” he said.

Anyim said critical challenges facing the country in the areas of security, corruption, unemployment, education and political stability would be tackled by the administration under its transformation agenda, which would soon be unfolded by the government.

Earlier, Senator Abdul-razaq-Gwadabe had listed security, problems in the education sector, unemployment, corruption and the need for political balance in the country as some of the major challenges that needed to be addressed by the government.

She said members of the forum were concerned about the series of bombings that had led to loss of lives and destruction of property in the country, while she urged all security agencies to utilise the resources at their disposal judiciously to improve the security situation.

N/East senators reject Deputy Senate Leader
Senators from the North-East geopolitical zone have rejected the position of Deputy Senate Leader zoned to the area.

The senators, after a two-hour meeting at the Senate Hearing Room 1, on Tusesday, rejected the position.

The Senate had, earlier at plenary session of Tuesday, announced its principal officers, with Senator Victor Ndoma Egba (South-South) emerging the Senate Leader.

Fourth term senator, Hayatu Gwarzo (North-West) also emerged the Majority Whip.

The position of Deputy Majority Leader was reserved for the North-East, but senators from the zone were unable to agree on a common candidate until the sitting on Tuesday.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus in the Senate had earlier met at the same venue, where they asked the North-East senators to accept the position zoned to the area and meet to agree on a candidate.

But, senators from the zone rose from their meeting, on Tuesday and said they would not accept the zoning arrangement.