The screening of 43 ministerial nominees forwarded Tuesday to the Senate for confirmation by President Muhammadu Buhari begins Wednesday.
And with this development, the Senate has postponed its two-month recess until after the screening.
Senate President Ahmad Lawan said this after reading the names of the nominees state by state at plenary Tuesday.
“In view of the urgency of the assignment at hand, distinguished colleagues, please be prepared with your questions for screening of the ministerial nominees from Wednesday this week.
“As a result of the assignment, all other legislative activities should be suspended from tomorrow (Wednesday) to face the screening exercise squarely,” he said.
The 43 nominees as forwarded by President Buhari and read on the floor of the Senate by the Lawan include Ikechukwu Ogar (Abia), Mohammed Musa Bello (Adamawa) and Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom) among others. (SEE FULL LIST BELOW)
While each of the 36 states of the federation, in line with constitutional provisions, has at least one nominee; seven other states namely Anambra, Bauchi, Edo, Kaduna, Kwara, Lagos and Kano have two.
Also from the list, 11 out of the 36 ministers who served during Buhari’s first term made the list.
Those in this category are; Rotimi Amaechi from (Rivers), Lai Mohammed (Kwara), Ogbonnaya Onu (Ebonyi), Babatunde Fashola (Lagos) and Abubakar Malami (Kebbi).
Others are; Zainab Ahmed (Kaduna), Adamu Adamu (Bauchi), Geoffrey Onyeama(Enugu), Hadi Sirika (Katsina), Mohammed Bello (Adamawa) and Dr Chris Ngige from Anambra state.
The new faces on the list are, spokesperson of Buhari campaign team, Barrister Festus Keyamo, SAN, immediate past governor of Akwa Ibom state, Senator Godswill Akpabio, immediate past governor of Osun state, Rauf Aregbesola, former Deputy Governor of Plateau state, Paullen Tallen, Senator Tayo Alasoadura, Chief Timpre Sylva and Gbemisola Saraki, younger sister of immediate past Senate President Bukola Saraki.
Others include Senator Adeleke Mamora from Lagos state, a national vice chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo, an executive commissioner at the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), Sunday Dare and executive chairman of the Pension Transition Administrative Department (PTAD), Sharon Ikpeazu.
In line with Senate’s tradition, eight out of the 43 nominees might be asked to take a bow and go on account of being former or serving members of the Senate or House of Representatives.
Those in this category are former Senators Gbemisola Saraki, Godswill Akpabio, Chris Ngige, George Akume, Tayo Alasoaduura, Hadi Sirika, Olorunnibe Mamora and Hon Emeka Nwajuba from Imo state.
Out of the 43 nominees, seven are females representing a ratio of one to six, a development that generated some opprobrium from women groups who believed the president did not keep his campaign promise of 35 percent representation.
Recess postponed
Meanwhile, the Senate has postponed its annual recess to allow for the screening of the ministerial nominees.
The recess was earlier planned for Thursday and expected to last about seven weeks.
Senate’s acting spokesperson, Adedayo Adeyeye, told journalists after Tuesday plenary.
He said the decision was made to hasten the screening process of the appointees.
Briefing journalists, Senator Adeyeye said the Senate also resolved to suspend its rules and hold plenary on odd days.
“We have postponed the recess till next week, end of next week. We are suspending a lot of our rules.
“Plenary normally does not hold on Fridays, plenary will hold on Friday this week and Monday next week in other to hasten the process. We want to do a thorough job and we want Nigerians to know that we are doing a thorough job. It is going to be a lot of sacrifice on our part.
“We are going to work in unusual hours; normally we sit from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. that will not apply till during this confirmation hearing. We are going to sit till very late, virtually every day. On Friday, we will sit till we are tired. We will go on a brief recess and might proceed until 10 p.m.
“We have given ourselves enough time, we will work in unusual hours,” he said.
When asked if ministerial nominees with performance below expectation would be confirmed, Senator Uba Sani, a member of the committee, said the ninth Senate would take the screening process very seriously.
“Those, who usually, will be asked to bow, this time around we will try as much as possible to ask them to explain to the public what they intend to do.
“Even those who are returning will be asked to tell Nigerians their plan. Nigeria will want to know their agenda. One cannot be able to answer the question at the moment, we cannot prejudge them. We believe all the nominees of the president are qualified,” he said.
BMO lauds list
Meanwhile, the Buhari Media Organisation has described the ministerial list as a product of good thinking and paid due attention to merit, hard work and loyalty.
The group said the list was a good mix of technocrats, achievers and loyal members of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In a statement by its Chairman, Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary, Cassidy Madueke, BMO said: “President Buhari’s list is clearly populated by loyal party members who are professionals in their own right. And although a few of them were part of the last cabinet, we are convinced that they were outstanding for their contributions to the overall success of the Buhari administration.
“We also acknowledge that the new-comers have a good pedigree in their own right and have excelled in the private and public sectors, coupled with the role they played in the process that led to the re-election of the president.
“The seven female ministerial nominees, including at least one former Senator and a deputy governor, are well-known politicians who have paid their dues and are well placed to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the men on the cabinet list.
“So, it is safe to say that the ministerial nominees are in a good position to help drive President Buhari’s Next Level agenda, if confirmed by the Senate,” it said.
It’s uninspiring -PDP
However, thePeoples Democratic Party (PDP) said the list was colourless, stagnant, uninspiring and did not convey any sense of hope or purposeful governance under the APC.
The party in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, Tuesday said the list was “replete with incompetent individuals who failed in their erstwhile ministerial assignments and left their ministries in a shambles.”
“The list has further shown President Buhari and APC’s insensitivity and disdain for Nigerians and it does not in any way reflect their hope and eagerness for a better Nigeria.”
He said: “In recycling failed yesterday’s men for today’s assignment, President Buhari and the APC have left no one in doubt that they have no vision to move our nation out of the economic and security predicaments into which they have plunged us in the last four years,” the statement further said.
Yakasai lauds president
In his reaction, elder statesman, Tanko Yakasai, in a short message made available to journalists in Abuja said the ministerial list was representative enough.
Yakasai stated, “the new ministerial list submitted by the president to the Senate is representative enough, but the nomination of certain people perceived to be fantastically corrupt made a mockery of the president’s war against corruption.”
“The fact that returnees are many means the policy of the new government will not be much different from that of the outgoing. My only observation is that since the majority of the nominees are already known to the president his delay in submitting a ministerial nomination is unjustifiable.”
APC youth angry
Meanwhile, a member of APC Young Stakeholders Forum, Ambassador Dagogo Fubara, has frowned at the list, which he said excluded the youth despite their input to the president’s re-election project.
Dagogo, who contested the position of the party’s national youth leader, said the ruling party, should do more to bring up members of APC young stakeholders on board to learn act of governance early.
“Personally I feel disappointed when I saw the ministerial list and asked where are the youths who travelled all over the country in 2015 and 2019 to campaign for our party? They are not hidden. The president and other party leaders know them.
“The essence of the Not- Too-Young To Run Bill signed into law by the president is to encourage young politicians to contribute to the development of their country. These youths are not born only to be Personal Assistants and Special Assistants on youth matters alone.
“In this age and time, serious nations are making use of their millennium because it is a computer age,” Fubura stated.
Women, NYCN too
Also, the National Council of Women Societies (NCWS) expressed its angst at the list, saying it fell short of the women’s expectations.
NCWS President Gloria Laraba Shoda said six women out of 42 ministers ‘is poor.’
She said: “Just six women out of list of 42 ministers is poor. We are not happy and we are disappointed because the president actually said he was going to keep to 35% promise and now that it is time to do that he has failed us.
“We expected more than just six women on the list, I don’t know the improvement we have had from the past and we are not happy because women are being short changed.
“They have already declared a state of emergency on gender but I think in Nigeria, they are trying to cut the gender wings completely and we actually don’t know what is going on.
“Compared to other nations, we are really backward and we call ourselves the giant of Africa.
Look at other African countries have achieved 30%, 40% even up to 51% in Rwanda so, its disheartening and we are not happy.”
Similarly, the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), the nation’s apex body of youth organisation in Nigeria has said it was studying the list, even as they insisted on inclusive governance.
NYCN President Oladele John Nihi said the youth still maintained their stand on having a youth as minister of youths and sports development.
Speaking with Blueprint Tuesday, Nihi said the council is currently studying the names and ages of the nominees to confirm if President Buhari had indeed kept to the promises he made on more inclusion of youths in his cabinet during the last campaign
Nihi said: “I commend Mr. President for promptly releasing the name of would be ministers before NASS vacation. However, we are currently studying the names and ages of the minister nominees to confirm if President Buhari has indeed kept to the promises he made during campaign leading to the last general election of more inclusion of youths in his cabinet.”
He said the apex youth body in the country believed that the level of confidence the youths have in the president would be further strengthened by having a youth minister staring the affairs of the youth ministry.
