Much ado about “bow and go”

BY OLA AWONIYI

The screening of ministerial nominees by the Senate has come and gone
but the dust it raised may take some time to settle. The announcement of
ministerial nominations is always greeted with public excitement. And
the case was not different this time round too, for obvious reasons. The
President needs ministers to help him in running the affairs of the
country. When the ministers are in place, it is generally believed the
full complement of the Executive is formed for the business of
governance to begin in earnest. This is why the nation was eager about
the composition of the next Federal Executive Council. President
Muhammadu Buhari eventually forwarded the names of his nominees to the
Senate for screening and approval last week. The public anxiety
continued until last week Tuesday when the list was unveiled at the
Senate plenary by Senate President Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan.

The following day, the Senate began the screening after earlier deciding
to postpone its recess for the exercise. The prompt commencement of the
legislative process by the Senate under the leadership of Senator Lawan
is remarkable. It showed the senators were willing to defer their
holiday for what they considered a national assignment. And the way they
went about it was a clear departure from the past wherein nominees were
made to go through some undefined pre-screening rituals before being
invited to the Red Chamber for formal screening.

Rather than applaud the Senate for that, a well-known parliamentary
practice of giving recognition to former lawmakers, who by virtue of
being in parliament before without abusing their integrity had fulfilled
the condition for their appointment ab initio, started generating
controversy. Eight nominees, out of the 43 on the list, took their turns
on Day One. Uchechukwu Ogah, a nominee from Abia State, was the first to
be invited into the chamber for screening. For almost one hour, the
senators feasted on him. Then former Benue State Governor George Akume,
who previously was also Minority Leader of the Senate, took his turn.
Standing on his feet looking at Akume in his white babariga as he
mounted the podium, the Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, cleared
his throat and said: “I rose for only one purpose to ensure that
tradition, that convention be respected in perpetuity so that no
question here, other than ‘take a bow and go’ propagated by a few of
our colleagues, be maintained.” The privilege was accorded Akume as a
former two-term senator.

Akume’s case is interesting. Between 2007 and 2015, he not only had
his seat well marked, as others, in the Senate, he also took part in the
screening of nominees of the President more than twice. “I rise to
support that he should be asked to take a bow and go, given his length
of service in this chamber,” said Distinguished Senator Omo-Agege. It
was obvious the DSP spoke the minds of his other colleagues. The
President of the Senate then came point-blank on the issue: “Let me also
remind us that it is a tradition here to give this privilege, this
concession to senators who served in this chamber or in the House of
Representatives or indeed the State Houses of Assembly. This tradition
must continue despite the fact that some people do not understand it and
we need to educate them.” It is a tradition inherited from previous
Senate, which evidently underscores the importance the lawmakers attach
to the institution of the parliament such that if one has discharged
himself or herself creditably there, he would do even better in other
areas notably in the executive branch.

Not knowing the import of that parliamentary practice and one of
prerequisites for ministerial nomination, which equates it with the
condition for qualification for membership of the House of
Representatives, some Nigerians, among them commentators and columnists,
queried the essence of the screening if all that a nominee would do at
the Senate is to bow and take his leave. I admit that asking these
former lawmakers some questions may refresh the memories of their new
colleagues and indeed Nigerians about the character and competence they
had earlier demonstrated in parliament. It may also be a needless
exercise because the former lawmakers had abinitio met the condition for
their nominations.

Ita Enang, Special Adviser on Senate Matters to President Buhari, who
was formerly in the House of Representatives and Senate and indeed in
charge of Rules and Business, first in the House and later in the Senate
for several years, put this issue succinctly. According to him, the
practice of “take a bow and go” is not new and not peculiar to the
Nigerian Senate. “It is a tradition that started in the United Kingdom
and the United States parliament and has become a parliamentary
tradition everywhere.” Enang knows his onions and knows well the rules
guiding confirmation hearings. If that practice deserves a review as
some honestly canvass, I think the Senate will not hesitate do so
accordingly. The point, however, is some of those who criticised the
practice and erroneously called the upper chamber and its leadership all
kinds of names would wish to be at the receiving end of that privilege
if previously in parliament and now appeared on the ministerial list.

But before we go for tinkering with that established practice, it is
important to know the intention of the law in assigning the
all-important confirmation of ministers and other key appointments of
the president to the Senate. In carrying out that task, the Nigerian
Constitution asks the Senate to ensure the president complies with
certain provisions. For ministerial nomination, Chapter 6 Part 1 Section
147 is very apposite here.

Subsection (2) of this section states: “Any appointment to the office
of Minister of the Government of the Federation shall, if the nomination
of any person to such office is confirmed by the Senate, be made by the
President. Subsection (3): Any appointment under subsection (2) of this
section by the President shall be in conformity with the provisions of
Section 14 (3) of the Constitution;- provided that in giving effect to
the provisions aforesaid the President shall appoint at least one
Minister from each State, who shall be an indigene of such State.
Subsection (5): No person shall be appointed as a Minister of the
Government of the Federation unless he is qualified for election as a
member of the House of Representatives.”

I consider the scrupulous application of these criteria as the real
purpose of the confirmation screening. The same critics of the
just-concluded process would have accused the Senate of over-reaching
itself if it had done more than prescribed by the law. It would have
been more helpful though if the President had provided the Senate the
portfolios of the would-be ministers in which case the Senate would
assess their competence and appropriateness against the portfolios
assigned them. Again, ministerial nomination is the prerogative of the
President and the Constitution does not mandate him to assign portfolio
to nominees forwarded to the Senate. As such no one can blame President
Buhari.

This is where those who equate Senate screening to a job interview miss
the point. For a job interview, the candidate knows what to prepare for
and the interviewers the questions relevant to specific jobs. In this
case, neither the nominees nor the Senators know the portfolios the
president intends for the nominees. Unless they speculate based on the
educational or professional experience of a nominee, all the senators
can do with those they did not know or those that had not passed through
their institution previously is ask general questions that may give
little insight about them and how they may perform as ministers.

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*AWONIYI IS THE SPECIAL ADVISER ON MEDIA TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE.