President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s list of 28 would-be ministers was made available by Senate President Godswill Akpabio during plenary yesterday.
Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, who delivered the correspondence, which contained the list and a request for confirmation, said additional nominees’ list will be sent “in the coming days”.
Speaking to reporters in Aso Villa, he said: “I’m sure you all know that the government is not fully formed until a cabinet is in place.
“That process started a while ago, culminating in the delivery of ministerial nominees today (yesterday).
“The President took his time, did a lot of due diligence going through the nominees one by one.
“He had 60 days from the time of inauguration, as stipulated in the Constitution. He has fulfilled that requirement by submitting 28 names. The remaining 12 will be forwarded to the Senate in the coming days.
“Mr. President dissected those names with a fine-tooth comb and that’s what you’ve seen. Each of the persons on that list, I believe, is worth being there.
“It’s a good mix of people with political acumen and technocrats. So, this is a good balance and it’s needed.
“These are people who have keyed into the vision and mission of Mr. President. It’s a good balance needed to move the country forward as Mr. President is eager to do and has already started doing”.
Why portfolios not attached
Explaining why the President did not attach portfolios to the names of his nominees, Gbajabiamila said it would afford him (Tinubu) the opportunity to look at the characters of the nominees and see which ministry fits most for each of them.
He explained that while it would have been the best idea to attach portfolios to the names, it may cause problems if the President changes his mind after they have been screened.
He further hinted that the President may separate portfolios or restructure the ministries in such a way that new ministries that were not in existence before may emerge.
“For me (attaching portfolios) would have been one way to go about it. It would have been a welcome development. As good as that sounds it straightjackets the President to pigeonhole one person in an office or the other.
“What happens then if you change your mind? Do you then bring the person back for screening again, because the President is at liberty to change his mind?
“And meanwhile, the Senate has screened that person for that particular initial portfolio. What happens then? Do you rescreen the person? So, a lot of these things have their merits and demerits.
“I like the idea of attaching portfolios because it makes it necessary for the Senate to know exactly what you’re asking and what you’re looking for.
“But for now, it’s been thought wise that we stick to the tradition of sending the names and then whilst the screening processes are going on, allow the Mr. President and his team to look at the portfolios and the characters and see how they fit.
“The first step that he has done is that these are people that can work wherever you put them, except this specialised fields like Attorney-General and what have you.
“For most of the portfolios, he believes most of them can fit in anywhere and what’s important is also that Mr. President intends to separate portfolios or restructure the ministries in such a way you might be hearing of new ministries that were not standalone ministries before. So, the process continues,” he said.
Gbajabiamila believes that in the next few weeks, the new ministers would hit the ground running, hinting that they would even begin work in some ways before their clearance and inauguration.
“Well, like I said, it’s a process. And we’re in the middle of the process now. As far as Mr. President is concerned, he has his cabinet.
“I’m sure there will be those who will be working behind the scenes, giving him advice. Every day is important to this government.”
He hopes the Senate will start work on the list soon.
“For all intents and purposes, work should start in earnest for them in the next week or two because I don’t see the Senate wasting too much time in the confirmation.
“They will do a thorough job, but they will balance it with the knowledge that in this time that we are in, time is of the essence.”
Senate begins ministerial screening on Monday
The Senate would begin the screening of 28 ministerial nominees on Monday.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Yemi Adaramodu, said the Senate had suspended its relevant rules to attend to the “very important national assignment of ministerial screening.”
He said the screening would be very thorough while pledging that the Senate would not disappoint Nigerians.
“It is not going to be wishy-washy,” he said.
He added that even though there is a tradition where former members of the National Assembly nominated for ministerial positions are told to “take a bow and go” the 10th Senate would ensure that such tradition is not abused where there are relevant questions to be asked.
“We will not manufacture allegations where there is none. The issue of take a bow and go is not an anathema. It is a tradition,” he said.
He said a specific time would not be allocated to screen individual nominees because time will be given to allow them to answer all relevant questions from lawmakers.
The list as announced by Akpabio includes Abubakar Momoh (Edo), Yusuf Maitama Tuggar (Bauchi), Ahmad Dangiwa (Katsina), Hannatu Musawa (Katsina), Uche Nnaji (Enugu), Betta Edu (Cross River), Doris Aniche Uzoka (Imo) and David Umahi (Ebonyi).
Others are Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Mohammed Badaru Abubakar (Jigawa), Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai (Kaduna), Ekperikpe Ekpo (Akwa Ibom) and Nkiru Onyejeocha (Abia).
Also on the list are Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo (Ondo), Stella Okotete (Delta), Bello Muhammad Goronyo (Sokoto), Uju Kennedy Ohanenye (Anambra), Dele Alake (Ekiti), Lateef Fagbemi SAN (Kwara), Muhammad Idris (Niger), Olawale Edun (Ogun) and Adebayo Adelabu (Oyo).
Iman Sulaiman Ibrahim (Nasarawa), Ali Pate (Bauchi), Joseph Utsev (Benue), Abubakar Kyari (Borno), John Enoh (Cross River) and Sani Abubakar Danladi (Taraba) also made the list.
Contrary to the tradition of the Presidential Liaison Officer delivering the list to the Senate, Gbajabiamila chose to bring the list during plenary and handed it over to Senator Akpabio.
The Senate resolved into an executive session after prayer was said and votes and proceedings for Wednesday were adopted and approved.
Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele moved a motion to invoke Order 12(1) of Senate Standing Rules to allow Gbajabiamila, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, into the chambers to deliver a communication containing the ministerial list.
After receiving the letter from Gbajabiamila, Akpabio said: “Distinguished Colleagues, I am pleased to announce to the distinguished Senate and all Nigerians that Mr. President has sent a correspondence dated 27th Day of July 2023 to this hallowed chamber addressed to Distinguished Senator Godswill Akpabio.
“In view of the fact that we have not emplaced all our committees, this correspondence from Mr. President is committed to the Committee of the Whole.”
In the 28-persons list are seven women, four immediate-past governors, one of them a serving senator, former federal lawmakers, serving commissioners and other officials from state governments, international civil servants, media leaders, highly rated lawyers, engineers, private sector players and top civil servants.
Eleven states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are yet to have the names of their nominees sent by the President.
Three states – Katsina, Bauchi and Cross River – have two nominees each.
