Senate President to unveil ministerial-nominees list this week

Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, will likely unveil the names of the ministerial nominees at plenary this week.

Plenaries at both chambers of the National Assembly are held on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

There has been serious agitation over the delay of President Bola Tinubu in constituting his cabinet two months after his inauguration.

According to a new amendment to the 1999 Constitution, the President and governors must submit the names of persons nominated as ministers or commissioners within 60 days of taking the oath of office for confirmation by the Senate or the respective state Houses of Assembly.

This implies that Tinubu and 28 governors must submit the lists of nominees for ministers and commissioners before the end of this month.

This week is the last before the deadline for the President to name his minister-nominees.

Sources at the National Assembly said the letter containing the names of the nominees got to the Senate President last week.

The sources, however, noted that some last-minute adjustments were made to the list, hence the reason for the delay in reading out the names.

One of the sources said, “The Senate President got the ministerial list last week, but it was not yet time for him to unveil it, hence the reason it was kept.

“Most importantly, there were some last-minute adjustments. The Senate President had a meeting with President Tinubu over the list last week.”

Another source noted that the administration had been trying its best to avoid backlash hence, the reason why the list could not be delayed.

The lawmaker noted that the names would be read out this week, but could not tell when exactly.

The source said, “The names of the ministerial nominees will be out this week.

“The Asiwaju-led administration has been trying its best to avoid a backlash even though it is unavoidable. The names will be unveiled this week; that is all I can say.”

Another source noted that the names would be unveiled this week and many people would be shocked.

The source noted that the delay was deliberate because of intense lobbying, but the details of the list would shock a lot of Nigerians.

The source added, “The list of the nominees will be unveiled this week and I can tell you that the details will shock a lot of Nigerians. I mean a lot of big politicians will be thrown aback.

“This will be the real Asiwaju Tsunami.”

Concerning how the screening of the nominees will go, a ranking senator noted that there was not too much to the screening of ministers as it could be done within three days or one week.

The source stated, “There is no big deal about the screening of ministers. The ministers can be screened in three days or one week.

“Even if we have to call special or emergency sessions after the plenary has closed for this session, we will.

“But I know the list will be read out this week.”