PRESIDENT BUHARI FINALLY BEGINS PROCESS TO NOMINATES MINISTERS.

The Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari true to type has kept his word and sent the names of his ministerial nominees to the State security sevice for screening. It was gathered that no fewer than 20 nominees had been vetted by the DSS operatives since the exercise started. The President was said to have sent to the agency a total of 36 names of would be ministers for security checks. The identities of the nominees were top secret as of Wednesday. The President had indicated in a chat with journalists in Accra, Ghana, on Monday that he would keep his promise of announcing names of his ministers this month. Investigations showed that the screening process by the DSS involved conducting background checks on the careers of the nominees and operatives were also checking for records of the nominees with anti-graft and security agencies. One of our correspondents gathered that people on the list included mainly those who worked with Buhari when he was in the military and during his stint as the chairman of the defunct Petroleum Trust Fund. The DSS could not be reached for comment on Wednesday as it had yet to appoint a spokesperson. Although the presidency has shrouded the identity and exercise in secrecy we learnt it is ongoing. “His choice of Daura (Lawal Daura), a member of the old guard, as the DG DSS should tell you something; even those contacted for screening know that any leak of information traced to them could ruin their chances,” a source hinted. The ministerial list is yet to be forwarded to the Senate as it is still undergoing security screening. The President, in an interview he granted the Hausa Service of the BBC on Tuesday, had given a hint about what influenced the appointments he had so far. He had said, “If I choose people who I know quite well in my political party, people whom we came (together) all the way right from the All Peoples Party, Congress for Progressive Change and the APC and we have remained together through good and trying times, what then is the reward for such dedication and suffering? They did not defect because of positions; they did not involve themselves in the pursuit of personal gains.”