Senate Confirms Nominees While SSS Conducts Screening, Ndume Clarifies
The Senator representing Borno South, Ali Ndume, has said the National Assembly is not responsible for screening ministerial or other presidential nominees but only for confirming them after the State Security Service (SSS) conducts background checks.
Naija News reports that Ndume made the clarification on Thursday during an appearance on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme, following the resignation of Uche Nnaji as the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation over allegations of certificate forgery.
Ndume said, “We are not screening. Get this clear. Screening and confirmation are two different things. Before the president sends a candidate to the Senate, there are a lot of processes, including screening him not only on certificates, but also conducting a background check by the SSS. The SSS has to clear him.”
Naija News recall that Nnaji resigned on Tuesday, October 7, 2025, after a Premium Times investigation alleged that he forged his university and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificates, which he presented during his ministerial nomination in 2023.
The former minister dismissed the report as an “orchestrated, sustained campaign of falsehood,” insisting that his resignation was not an admission of guilt but a gesture of respect for due process and the judiciary.
Speaking on the broader issue, Ndume admitted that forgery remains a significant challenge in the country, extending beyond politics into society at large.
He said, “This matter of forgery in Nigeria is a big problem, not only restricted to the political class. Even you now, I don’t know your certificates. Everybody, all of these people have classmates. All these people, Nnaji, have classmates.”
Ndume further defended the Senate’s record, recalling instances in which nominees were dropped following adverse reports from the SSS.
“Last time the SSS brought something against somebody, and we dropped the person. So don’t say we are not doing our job. We are not even to do the screening; we are to do confirmation,” he added.