WHAT most Nigerians dreaded, about the screening of ministers, the men and women President Goodluck Jonathan would use to implement his transformation agenda, is about coming true, the screening will not be thorough.

Smart Adeyemi, a ranking senator, says senators are under tremendous pressure on the nominees. “We have been under intense pressure by lobbyists and political hired mercenaries to stop some nominees from being cleared or to disqualify some nominees by asking questions to embarrass them and stop them. They have given many of us sleepless nights with offer of millions of Naira so as to discredit some nominees,” Adeyemi said.

The senator is discussing offers of bribery – a criminal offence – but there are no hints that any reports would be made to the relevant security agencies to arrest those who are trying to skew the process. Nobody would be sure whether senators would not take the offers and have their sleep.

The Senate will not take responsibility for the type of ministers we get if we are to believe Mr. Adeyemi. “The screening will follow the normal pattern. Once they scale through security screening, which normally would have taken care of their moral, and integrity, ours is to ask questions on their state of intelligence and plans to midwife the transformation programmes of the President,” he said. The appearance at the Senate would be normal; the security agencies have done the work.

More disturbing disclosures from Mr. Adeyemi denote the uselessness of the exercise, which the Constitution envisaged would be an important function in determining people to be entrusted with Nigeria’s resources.

“Many of us will be very much at alert to make sure that money is not allowed to play any role in this screening exercise. We have been told that some people should not be allowed to pass through the screening simply because they effected or carried out reforms that will empower Nigeria rather than foreign interest,” Mr. Adeyemi said in what could be excuses for passing candidates who could be a disservice to the cabinet. What reforms did anyone carry out? How did the reform work for ordinary Nigerians?

“We have also noticed that there are political opponents and those whose business interest is being threatened by the reforms are involved in this crusade so as to settle business score.

The National Assembly will vehemently oppose further attempts to lure us to stake the future happiness of the Nigerian masses by attempting to scuttle the confirmation of otherwise qualified nominees to fill ministerial slots, particularly ministers who have restructured their ministries in the past. We shall resist the temptation for the sake of the nation and the Nigerian spirit,” he continued.

This could be a ploy to silence senators opposed to the inclusion of certain nominees in the cabinet. From Mr. Adeyemi’s position, any senator who asks critical questions during the screening must be against reforms or acting for those whose business interests have been hurt. We hope senators do not bow to this blackmail.

The sudden interest of the Senate “in the future happiness of Nigerians” is non- committal enough to raise more concerns. What happens to our present happiness? Have we survived the present?

Nigerians remain at a loss about what the National Assembly does. If matters as simple as screening ministerial nominees to ascertain their qualification for membership of the cabinet elicit such indifference from the Senate, we shall resist the temptation to take the Senate serious “for the sake of Nigeria and the Nigerian spirit.”