The Senate is in session. Photo Credit: Senate

The Senate has commenced the screening of 17 nominees submitted by President Bola Tinubu to head three major commissions in Rivers State, following security clearance and full compliance with asset declaration requirements.

The nominees—selected for the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, the Civil Service Commission, and the Local Government Service Commission—underwent mandatory vetting by the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigeria Police and declared their assets with the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).

Chairman of the ad hoc screening committee, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, disclosed this during the screening session. He emphasised that the nominees met all constitutional and security requirements.

“Let me quickly inform distinguished colleagues and members of the public that the nominees… have gone through security screening by the various security agencies, including the DSS and Nigerian Police,” Bamidele stated.

“We have also insisted that they should comply with the constitutional requirement of asset declaration at the Code of Conduct Bureau, which they have also fulfilled.”

The nominees were introduced to the Senate by Basheer Lado, the special adviser to the president on Senate matters. According to Bamidele, the screening committee received no petitions or objections against any of the individuals.

“We did not have any petition against any of the nominees who are here. So, there is no inhibiting factor that would really prevent us from screening any of them,” he added.

He further explained that once the committee concludes the screening, its findings and recommendations will be presented at plenary for confirmation by the Senate.

“The screening exercise itself is a process, and all of these individual steps that I have mentioned are part of the process. Once we are done with this, we then make our recommendations to the Senate in plenary for the confirmation or otherwise,” Bamidele said.

The screening of additional nominees for the Rivers State Primary Health Care Management Board is expected to follow on Wednesday.