Ex-ogun Gov candidate task Senate on screening

A three-time governorship candidate in Ogun State, Lanre Banjo, has urged the leadership of the Senate to improve on its process of screening political appointees. He noted that it was unacceptable for the Senate to ask an ex-senator being screened for a political position to ‘take a bow and go’ because he or she was once a member of the legislature. Banjo said the constituency of a senator was not very large and his or her duty was not as cumbersome as that of a governor. He, therefore, wondered why the Senate would grill governors with impeccable records and ask an ex-senator to take a bow and leave, regardless of his or her records in the Senate He said, “I don’t believe in copying any system from other democracies, but I believe my country should perform better than other countries so that others can come to learn. Senator John Kerry, the United States Secretary of State, chaired the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee for four years before he became President Barack Obama’s choice for the Secretary of State. He was asked to step aside to enable the committee conduct a hearing on his nomination. “He answered a range of questions such as Iran’s nuclear programme and opportunities in Latin America during his confirmation. He was grilled on how he would build upon the policies and vision of the Obama administration. The committee cleared him after about two days’ hearing and the Senate confirmed him with a vote of 94 to three to enable him take over from Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton.