SSS Gets List of New Ministers from Buhari, Begins Screening

The Department of State Services has commenced the screening of ministerial nominees sent to the agency by President Muhammadu Buhari. No fewer than 20 nominees had already been vetted by the DSS.

The President was said to have sent to the agency a total of 36 names of would-be ministers for checks.

The identities of nominees were top secret before now. But some of the expected names made the list.

There will be some new names from the North and the South-West. The South East will get known names of the few who supported Buhari from the geo-political zone.

Some of the names on the list included those who worked with Buhari when he was in the military and during his stint as the chairman of the defunct Petroleum Trust Fund, as well as in politics.

Investigations by PUNCH showed that the screening process by the DSS involved conducting background checks on the careers of the nominees and operatives were also checking for records of the nominees with anti-graft and security agencies.