Nigeria Senate starts screening proposed ministers

ABUJA, July 11 (Reuters) The Nigerian Senate began screening proposed ministers today, more than six weeks after President Umaru Yar'Adua took power, tackling a delicate stage in the process of forming a new government.

Nigerian ministries have been in limbo since May 29, when former President Olusegun Obasanjo and his ministers stepped down.

An initial list of 35 proposed new ministers was announced last Thursday, although the portfolios were not specified. Under the constitution, the Senate must vet the nominees.

Some senators questioned how they were supposed to decide if the nominees were suitable without knowing which job they would get, but the process began smoothly in spite of the objections.

Senators spent an hour and a half questioning the first nominee on their list despite repeated appeals from Senate President David Mark to speed up the process.

The Senate has not given itself a time limit for the screening.

It usually only sits on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays for about four hours a day, although the sessions can be extended if a majority of senators vote in favour.

Nominees are not immediately told if they have been approved or not.

Only 17 of Yar'Adua's 35 nominees have cleared prior screening by security agencies, and the status of the others is unclear. Mark read a list of the 17 in the order in which they would be screened.

LEGITIMACY Yar'Adua has faced numerous hurdles in putting together his cabinet, not least a perceived lack of legitimacy after the April elections that brought him to power were condemned as ''not credible'' by European observers because of widespread fraud.

To offset this problem, Yar'Adua has tried to bring in opposition parties but not all of them have accepted. He is expected to put forward a second list of ministerial nominees who should include opposition figures.

Another factor complicating the process is that the constitution says at least one minister should be appointed from each of the 36 states to ensure fair representation.

Africa's most populous country with 140 million people, Nigeria is a nation of about 250 ethnic groups split about equally between Muslims and Christians. Representation for all states is a way to ensure a balance of power between competing interest groups.

But it leads to endless arguments as the states vie for the best jobs. Even within the states, problems often arise as different local government areas disagree over whose turn it is to have one of their own people in government.

Since last Thursday, the Senate has received several petitions against some of the nominees who face opposition from within their homes states because of such arguments.

Yar'Adua's other big problem is how to handle his predecessor, Obasanjo, who almost single-handedly ensured that Yar'Adua emerged as the ruling party's presidential candidate.

After he stepped down as president, Obasanjo took up a new position as chairman of the board of trustees of the ruling party in what many politicians said was a clear signal that he intended to continue influencing public affairs.

As a result, politicians have been scrutinising the list of names for signs of Obasanjo's handiwork and some nominees face accusations that they are stooges of the former president.

REUTERS KK PM1850