A CURSORY look at the way the business of screening of officials for high offices is done in today’s Nigeria shows that people who find themselves in government are unserious, incompetent and approach their jobs with corrupt intentions.

How else could it be possible for candidates ostensibly screened for high positions in government are later found to have issues that should have disqualified them at the screening stage?

The case of Hannatu Musawa, the Minister for Arts, Culture and Creative Economy is not the first such controversy. Her security screening failed to identify unsolved NYSC certificate issues which came up when she was already sworn in. A former Minister of Finance under the Muhammadu Buhari administration, Kemi Adeosun, was pressured out of office over her allegedly forged National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, certificate in September 2018.

Also, a former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu, was screened by the Department of State Security Services, DSS, and sent to the Senate for confirmation. Years after he had been in office, the DSS, at the behest of the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakr Malami, got the Senate to reject Magu’s confirmation over offences some of which he allegedly committed way back in 2008.

The Nigerian Senate has become notorious for failing to do a thorough job of screening ministerial nominees. The unhealthy culture of “take a bow and go”, especially for former lawmakers and some governors, which the All Progressives Congress, APC, regimes have continued from their Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, predecessors, has become a sad joke.

However, a closer look at why the federal lawmakers take it easy on pretty much every nominee shows elite conspiracy at work. Members of the political elite tend to close ranks to protect their interests, thus putting the interest of the public at the back burner.

Senators sing the praises of nominees or flatter the credentials of candidates they are supposed to grill as if positioning themselves for future favours. Many of these lawmakers later pester the officials with all sorts of selfish requests and demands as payback for their roles in the easy clearance of the appointees.

It is this poor approach to their constitutional responsibility that leads some of the officials, once in office, to disregard the lawmakers, especially when they are summoned to explain their roles over contentious issues. They have demystified themselves and betrayed the sacredness of their positions due to their disregard of their duties to the public in pursuit of selfish interests.

Our legislators must return to their constitutional roles as defenders of our democracy and representatives of the people. The legislature is the symbol of our democracy. When they sell their rights and powers and betray the public, democracy loses its appeal.

Salt is nothing without its taste.