Revealed! Senate Has No Constitutional Power to Screen Ministerial Nominees

Posted by Lolade on Tue 13th Oct, 2015 - tori.ng

A lawyer and a Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress has revealed that according to Nigeria's constitutional provision, ministerial screening is not in the jurisdiction of the Senate.

Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Chief Okoi Obono-Obla, has said the Senate lacks the powers to screen ministerial nominees.

According to him, what the constitution empowers the Senate to do is confirm those sent before them to become ministers and not to screen them.

Obono-Obla said the Senate would be infringing on the constitution if they “dabble into the sphere that is outside the province of the power conferred on it by the Constitution under the guise of confirmation of those nominated for appointment as ministers of the government of the federation.”

His position was contained in a press statement entitled: “The Senate has no Power to Screen Ministers, but confirm them.”

Obono-Obla said: “The pertinent question is: Is the Senate supposed to screen or confirm the Ministerial Nominees?

“To answer this poser or question, it will be necessary to read through Section 147 (3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) to see whether or not the Draftsmen of the Constitution intended the Senate to screen or simply confirm nominees put forward by the President.

“A cursory perusal of Section 147 (3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) reveals that nowhere did the writers use the word “screening” to describe what the Senate is required to do when the president transmits a list of those he has nominated as ministers of the government of the federation.

“It is clear as the crystal that the writers of Section 147 (3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) used the word “confirmation” not “screening”.

“I submit without fear of contradiction that there is absolute and clear distinction between the word “confirmation’’ and “screening”.

“The draftsmen of the constitution did not define the meaning of the word “confirmation”, so there shall be a recourse or call in aid to the dictionary meaning of the word in order to discover the intention of the draftsmen of the constitution.”

Following Obono-Obla's position, it is unclear if the Senate's function will be to confirm or to screen the ministerial nominees when they appear before the legislative chambers today.