The submission of nominees for Senate screening is another opportunity for President Muhammadu Buhari to put into effect his campaign vow of changing some of our nation’s repugnant political practices.

The process of cabinet formation is the foundation for success or failure for any administration. Our experience in Nigeria in recent times has often been to wobble and waffle in the recruitment process of ministers.

It was comforting to many that President Buhari promised that he would not give the governors and other power brokers the privilege of foisting their political surrogates on him and the nation as ministers, a patronage practice that had been so common.

Picking the right persons into the cabinet will be a key indicator of the capacity, and nay, commitment of President Buhari to redress ills in the land.

He is expected to, within the framework of geographical spread as stipulated by the constitution, focus on men and women with the zeal to serve the nation. The era of inviting political associates to ‘come and eat’ must indeed be seen as a phenomenon of the past.

We therefore call on the leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), who must have in various ways contributed to the party’s victory in the presidential elections, not to regard their contributions as political investments for economic benefits. They should regard themselves as men and women of honour who fought gallantly to enthrone change. They should not in any way become obstacles to change through unnecessary pressures on the President for the appointment of themselves or their political associates into jobs they are neither qualified nor suited for.

We also call on the President to follow the pattern already set by Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, by attaching the portfolios earmarked for each nominee as they go for the screening. Doing that would further deepen the Senate exercise and allow the nominees to be assessed, even by the public for their specified jobs.

Senate screening had in the past often fallen short of expectations, as certain classes of ministerial nominees, especially former senators, were not properly screened but perfunctorily asked to ‘bow and go’.

Nominees for cabinet positions must be thoroughly quizzed at Senate Committee level, and subsequently, at the Committee of the Whole and preferably under live television coverage. That will expose prospective managers of our commonwealth before the citizenry, promote transparency and boost the confidence of the people in our democracy.

The Eighth Senate under Senator Bukola Saraki must strive to improve in the performance of the Red Chamber in all areas of legislative practice to give Nigerians the positive change that they voted for.