candidates named by President Muhammadu Buhari for security checks.
The verification includes scrutiny of educational certificates, checks for any
past prosecution, among others.
Also, Nigeria Police Force might subject the nominees to another
documentation process, The Nation reports.
After the ongoing checks, a security report may be submitted to President
Muhammadu Buhari and the Senate by the DSS on the suitability of the
nominees.
At the DSS office yesterday were Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazzau, Dr.
Ogbonnaya Onu, Suleiman Adamu, Chief Audu Ogbeh, Amina Mohammed, Dr.
Kayode Fayemi, Musa Ibeto, among others.
All the nominees were asked to fill Personal Identification Form (PIF) which
requires data about their places of birth, schools attended, work experience
and past offices held.
"The details provided will lead to further investigation by the DSS to confirm
the veracity or otherwise of what they have filled in the PIF," a
source told The
Nation.
"The security agencies are paying attention to the educational certificates of
most of the nominees to avoid a situation where some Nigerians will join
issues with these candidates.
"The essence of inviting these nominees is to certify that what they have
pleaded is what they have. You will recall that some past leaders of the
National Assembly tampered with their age and a few others presented fake
certificates. The era of bloated Curriculum Vitae is gone. We do not want any
nominee to embarrass the President in the Senate.
"We have had instances in the past where ministers could not even locate
their certificates or past records of service."
"Any nominee with any challenge capable of creating image crisis for the
government or unfit to be a minister may be dropped."
