Senator Abdulaziz Yari, who represents Zamfara West, has said that the Senate is diligently screening President Bola Tinubu’s ministerial nominees contrary to notions that the process is being poorly conducted.
Yari firmly denied suggestions that the screening process is being carried out in a careless or hasty manner.
He made the statement during a private visit to Vice-President Kashim Shettima at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Tuesday.
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According to him, the Senate also believes that Tinubu has done a thorough background check into the credibility of each of the nominees before sending their names for confirmation.
“We at the National Assembly are doing our best to ensure that we thoroughly interrogate the nominees to the satisfaction of Nigerians,” Yari said.
“(The) take a bow and go you saw yesterday (Monday) is a tradition in the National Assembly. Anybody that is seen to take a bow and go is either one of the prominent persons that served Nigeria for long or his track record is known to every Nigerian.
“And the National Assembly has a tradition (that) if you served as a Senator or an Honourable member of the House of Representatives, it is an honour to read your Curriculum Vitae and maybe (allow you) explain yourself. They all have the record (that requires asking them to) to take a bow and go.
“But where we need to do a thorough job for Nigerians, we do it and you can see. But whatever we do as leaders, the Nigerian people will look as if we are not doing enough. A leader doesn’t dig deep enough but he does his best.
“So, we are doing our best to ensure that we thoroughly interrogate the nominees to the satisfaction of Nigerians,” Yari said.
He called on the citizens to be patient with the lawmakers and assured them that the Senate would do its best to ensure that the nominees are qualified for the positions.
“We centred our questions on what your profession is,” he said. “And so far, those that we went through have answered our questions satisfactorily.”
Yari said that the Senate would continue to work with the executive to ensure that the best possible people are appointed to the cabinet.