The decision by the Senate to screen only ministerial nominees that can provide evidence of assets declaration has been condemned by an anti-corruption group, the Coalition against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL) who said the Senate should led by example by compelling its principal officers to declare their assets first.
It will be recalled that the Senate had on Thursday released a list of criteria that nominees must meet before they can be screened for ministerial positions on Tuesday.
According to Chairman of the Senate Ad Hoc Committee on Media and Publicity, Dino Melaye, senators decided that each nominee must submit proof of their assets declaration, must have their nomination approved by two senators from their states, and must have a clean bill of health from its public petitions committee, among other conditions.
But in his reaction, the Chairman of CACOL, Mr. Debo Adeniran said that although the conditions seemed good, telling the nominees to declare their assets while those to screen them did not declare theirs was tantamount to adopting double-standards.
“We are fully in support of it,” Adeniran said. “As a matter of fact, we were the ones who first suggested it to Mr. President that any aspiring minister should be made to approach the CCB, fill their form, submit same and make it public.”
“However, the National Assembly should also cause its principal officers to make their assets declaration public. It is at that time that they will have moral authority and grounds to demand assets declaration from aspiring ministers.
“Nobody should be asked to bow and go. We are therefore fully in support of the demand for assets declaration; that is a place to start to assess their administration,” he stressed.