THISDAYonline

Expectedly, the ministerial list of nominees sent by President Olusegun Obasanjo to the Senate for screening and confirmation, has elicited some protests from a cross-section of the populace.

No sooner had the Senate President, Senator Adolph Wabara called on individuals with any thing against the nomination of any of the 40 ministerial nominees to forward their petitions to the legislative body, than they began to come in torrents.

Ordinarily, there is nothing wrong with individuals, groups or organizations with genuine complaint against any nominee which may be a hindrance in the discharge of his or her duties writing or forwarding petitions to the senate as part of input in their consideration of the character and integrity of the nominees.

In calling for petitions from the general public, the expectation could have been that they would help to provide insight into the past, lifestyle, character, pedigree and suitability of each of those nominated for higher national calling as fit and proper persons to occupy the exalted office of minister.

However, if inferences could be drawn from the petitions received so far, it would not be out of place to say that most of them fall short of these requirements, such that they may not be able to help the lawmakers know more about the nominees, other than what has been made available by security agencies or their (senators)individual knowledge of the would-be ministers.

A random sample of these petitions would reveal a pattern which is way off the mark of what should constitute a petition against the nominees.

What are presently before the senate as petitions do not provide any insight into the character of any of the nominees as to constitute a ground for their disqualification.

Indeed, what has so far been revealed is that the petitions and their writers have nothing to say or at best do not understand what constitutes an impediment to the successful screening of the nominees, that could lead to their being rejected by the lawmakers.

At the last count, no fewer than 10 ministerial nominees have petitions filed against them. But a common thread that runs through the entire petitions is that rather than dwell on substance, they tend to be pursuing shadows, merely highlighting primordial sentiments and local ethnic politics.

For instance, those with one petition or the other against their nomination include Dr. (Mrs.) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, (Abia); Dr. Iyorchia Ayu (Benue); Mrs. Nenadi Esther Usman (Kaduna); Chief Cornelius Adebayo (Kwara) and Malam Nasir el-Rufai (Kaduna).

Others include Princess Funke Adedoyin (Kwara); Alhaji Muktar Shagari (Sokoto); Mrs. Bintu Ibrahim Musa (Borno); Malam Hussein Akwanga and Dr. Wale Dada, among others.

Okonjo-Iweala

For Okonjo-Iweala, complaints against her are coming from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abia state. Being the nominee from Abia state, the party is grieved that Okonjo-Iweala is not a party woman and did not contribute to the 'success' of the party in the state. They are not happy that President Obasanjo did not appoint a 'party member', but chose to pick some one 'who is not even resident in the state'.

To many a political analyst, the petition by Abia PDP is not only laughable, it is equally ridiculous, given the antecedent and competence of the nominee. To Abia PDP leaders, it is immaterial that Okonjo-Iweala is a first class material, a technocrat who will even be doing the country proud by abandoning her lucrative job at the World Bank to a position that will only pay her a paltry compared to her salary at the World Bank.

If Abia PDP members are smart-given the pedigree of Iweala, they should have even appropriated her choice and claim that they made the nomination to President Obasanjo, in the first place. The whole world would have saluted them for their fore-sight. But by adducing the reasons they want her disqualified, it says a lot about their choices and preferences. Given the chance, would they have chosen a better candidate? They not only exposed themselves to ridicule, many say they are not in sync with the mood of the times. To those who want the country to move forward, the nomination of Okonjo-Iweala, irrespective of her state of origin, is one of the appointments of this government that should be saluted.

Iyorchia Ayu

Petitions have also flooded the senate with respect to Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, the nominee from Benue state. Writing under different groups such as Benue Proactive Coalition, Idoma National Forum and Middle-Belt Liberation Front, they are saying that Ayu's appointment was a violation of Tiv 'spirit of eat and give your brother to eat'.

At another level, the Idoma National Forum wants the senate to stop Ayu, arguing that his appointment would further marginalize the ethnic nationality in the politics of their state.

Ridiculous! many are bound to say. To political watchers, the reason adduced against Ayu's nomination are equally laughable and worrisome.

Laughable in the sense that the appointment is seen in the eyes of these people as an avenue for any other person appointed to 'come and chop'. It also portrays the Idoma's as interpreting that their so called marginalization would end, if Ayu is not appointed and another person called to replace him.

The petitioners wondered if Ayu is the only person from the state that is fit for appointment as minister.

But those who know Ayu would easily recall that his appointment or nomination did not come on a platter. If reward for loyalty and party discipline is recognition for wok done, many say that Ayu richly deserved his nomination. When it was even being contemplated whether the PDP should field Obasanjo for a second term given the opposition against his candidature, Ayu was among those who argued that it was for the party to sell his candidature. It is on record that he did say Obasanjo was the party's answer to ANPP's General Muhammadu Buhari.

Even when it was difficult to sell Obasanjo to Benue electorate after he fell out with Chief Barnabas Gemade and after the Zaki-Biam misadventure, Ayu staked all he had to convince the Benue electorate that Obasanjo would make a restitution. The people believed him and the result was a resounding victory for Obasanjo in the state. Given the circumstances that led to his quitting Obasanjo's cabinet as Minister of Industry, Ayu would have seen that as pay back time but he chose to work for PDP and delivered the party in the state.

But one important thing is that there is no where in the petition that the petitioners say that Ayu was indicted for stealing public funds or that he had committed murder.

The petitions equally did not question Ayu's competence nor his capacity to effectively discharge the duties of a minister. Given his pedigree as former Senate President and two time minister, he no doubt has a rich political background which ordinarily the people of Benue should flaunt.

It is not clear if a mere allegation of marginalization by the Idoma or violation of 'Tiv spirit of eat and give your brother to eat' would be enough to deny him the ministerial job.

Cornelius Adebayo

Another choice of President Obasanjo which is drawing the flakes is the nomination of Senator Cornelius Adebayo as minister from Kwara state.

Those railing at his choice are not saying he is not competent. They are not saying that he is not qualified, neither have they revealed any incapacitation that would make his nomination or appointment invalid. Their main grouse against Adebayo is that he is from the same Kwara South senatorial zone with another nominee from the state, Princess Funke Adedoyin.

But those opposed to Adebayo's nomination tend to have forgotten that the president made it clear that he would appoint one person each from the 36 states, and another six representing each of the six geo-political zones. Adebayo's appointment fit into this latter group.

It is to be expected that if the president is granted the right to make such appointment, it is not unexpected that this choice may fall under the same senatorial zone or even the same ward. That is exactly what has happened in the case of Adebayo, but petitioners have found it worthwhile to feast on this and inundate the senate with petitions.

How does this impugn on his character and integrity in office?

el-Rufai

Malam Nasir el-Rufai is not left out in the orgy of petitions. Those opposed to his nomination insist that rather than elevated with a ministerial appointment, his tenure as Director-General of the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) should be probed, particularly his handling of the privatization of some state enterprises such as NEPA, NITEL and Nigeria Airways among others.

It is lost on them that there is a general belief among a cross-section in the country, that el-Rufai is one of the leading lights who imbued the privatization exercise with credibility. His astuteness and strength of character endeared him to quite a number of people, such that many applauded his inclusion on the ministerial list. Although he is not known to be a card-carrying member of PDP, he is one of the rare technocrats expected to inject a new way if doing things into the federal cabinet

But just as in the case of others, the petitioners may have failed to convince anyone on what obstacles they think should serve as impediment to his going through the rigorous senate screening. If there is any, the petitioners failed to say it.

Shagari

Another nominee who was petitioned against is Alhaji Mukhtar Shagari, erstwhile Minister of Water Resources in Obasanjo's first term.

The petitioners' sole reason for opposing his nomination is the dominance of his Sokoto south senatorial district in the scheme of things in the state.

It is hardly to be seen how this could be an impediment to his nomination or screening.

But one fact, is that in his first term, many say Shagari worked hard as to merit a come back. Apart from that , more than any other politician from Sokoto, it was said that Shagari campaigned vigorously for Obasanjo which may explain why the president still has confidence in him as to re-appoint him.

From the foregoing, it could be said without any fear of contradiction, and without any claim to holding brief for any of the nominees, to say that the issues raised in the petitions so far submitted to the senate, have not addressed the issues of competence, character and other extant matters that could guide the senate in their works.

In all these, none of them were accompanied by the sworn affidavit which was made a condition for the submission of a petition.