Senate to nominees: Come with asset declaration certificates

In from Olumide Olaoluwa … .

Ministerial nominees are to appear before the Senate next Tuesday with certificates of assets declaration issued by the Code of Conduct Bureau.

Senate ad hoc committee chairman on Information, Dino Melaye, said the submission of assets declaration documents was mandatory.

He did not clarify whether the criterion was meant for some of the nominees who held public offices up till May 29.

Demand for assets declaration certificates from nominees is a clear departure from what obtained in the Senate since 1999.

Also, the nominees have been given up till Monday to submit 155 copies of their curriculum vitae to the Upper legislative chamber.

Citing provisions of its standing rule, the Senate also demanded that at least two of the senators representing the state of origin of each nominee must endorse their nominations.

Read also: Screening: Ministerial nominees lobby senators

Melaye however said the rule prescribing endorsement by two senators was not cast in granite, implying that the rule could be subsumed under other weightier considerations.

The constitutional provision which stipulates that each of the 36 states of the federation must have a representation in the federal cabinet remained sacrosanct, the Senate spokesman added.

Relying further on its standing rule, the Senate assured that past members of the Senate and House of Representatives among the nominees would enjoy preferential treatment.

“Although they will not be asked to simply take a vow and go, their screening will definitely not be as rigorous as in the case of others,” Melaye stated.

The Senate said the President’s nominees for top positions in the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON); the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) would have to wait till the ministerial nominees are done with.

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