Mixed reactions from eminent Nigerians have continued to trail the release of the first list of ministerial nominees submitted by President Bola Tinubu to the National Assembly for confirmation.
After a long wait by Nigerians and a day to the closing date for the submission of the names of the nominees as given by the Constitution of the Federal Republic, the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, on Thursday, presented Tinubu’s ministerial list before the Senate.
Gbajabiamila, who is also the immediate past Speaker of the House of Representatives, presented the list to Senate President Godswill Akpabio at exactly 01:19pm.
Akpabio said the list was dated July 27, 2023 and titled, ‘Request for Confirmation of Ministerial Nominees.
He said additional nominations would be sent to the Senate in due course. He thereafter read the ministerial list with 28 nominees.
A look at Tinubu’s first set of nominations shows that it was dominated by politicians, including former governors, most of them being immediate past governors as well as serving and former members of the Senate and House of Representatives.
Twenty-five per cent of the nominees are women, while 75 percent of the nominees are men.
The seven women that are included in the list are Doris Aniche Uzoka, Hannatu Musawa, APC Women Leader, Betta Edu, Nkiru Onyeojiocha, Stella Okotete, Uju Kennedy Ohaneye and Iman Suleiman Ibrahim.
THEWILL recalls that in 2015 many Nigerians decried the late release of the ministerial list by former President Muhammadu Buhari with people attributing the slow take-off of his administration to his late announcement of ministers.
Buhari unveiled his cabinet six months after his inauguration and this probably led to the amendment of the Constitution to the effect that a sitting President must announce his cabinet no later than 60 days after taking the oath of office.
Tinubu transmitted his ministerial list to the National Assembly a day before the expiration of the 60-day constitutional deadline of July 28, 2023.
The Fifth Amendment to the 1999 Constitution mandates the President to transmit the names of his ministerial nominees to the National Assembly within 60 days of assumption of office.
Here is a breakdown of the nominees, according to the six geo-political zones:
North-East with Four Nominees – Yusuf Maitama Tuggar – Bauchi
Ali Pate –Bauchi; Abubakar Kyari – Borno and Sani Abubakar Danladi – Taraba.
North-West has five nominees namely, Badaru Abubakar – Jigawa; Nasiru Ahmed El-Rufai – Kaduna; Ahmed Dangiwa – Katsina; Hannatu Musawa – Katsina and Bello Muhammad Goronyo – Sokoto.
The North-Central has four nominees, namely, Lateef Fagbemi – Kwara; Muhammad Idris – Niger; Iman Suleiman Ibrahim – Nasarawa and Joseph Utsev – Benue and South-West have four in Olubunmi Tunji Ojo – Ondo; Dele Alake – Ekiti; Olawale Edun – Ogun and Waheed Adebayo Adelabu – Oyo, while South-South has five members in the cabinet, and they are Nyesom Wike – Rivers; Abubakar Momoh – Edo; Betta Edu – Cross River; Ekperikpe Ekpo – Akwa Ibom and Stella Okotette – Delta.
Reactions to list of nominees
As expected there have been diverse reactions from many Nigerians to the list of ministerial nominees submitted by President Bola Tinubu. Many Nigerians have questioned the list, saying the politicians who made the list are there to get rewards from the President for what they did to assist him emerge as winner of the 2023 presidential election.
This group believes that ministerial positions are more important for the development and running of the country and need to be occupied by competent people, especially technocrats.
Others believe that those who used their resources to support the President’s campaign should be compensated and not neglected. To this set of people, nothing is wrong in rewarding those who contributed to Tinubu’s success in the election as ministers. One good turn they said deserves another.
Some Nigerians also said the list showed the political dexterity of the President, saying that he nominated those who can help him get a second term ticket in office for ministerial positions because they are political leaders in their various states.
Comrade Sola Olawale of the Campaign for Democracy (CD) thinks the list of nominees is proof of President Tinubu’s experience and wisdom as a politician.
He told THEWILL, “President Bola Tinubu is an experienced politician. You know he even included former Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers and one other PDP member in his cabinet. He is thinking about future elections. He is not done with the list, only compensating those who have helped him in the past elections and building on the future.
“Those appointed now will be his foot soldiers across the country, if he intends to go for a second term. The list is okay, as far as I am concerned. It will encourage more people to work for him because they now know that if you work, you will be compensated”.
Peter Ojo, an Abuja based public affairs commentator, differs from Olawale.
He said that the list is enough evidence that Tinubu is only recycling old politicians.
“Most of the people have spent eight years as state governors. Why nominate them for ministerial positions? Are there no other people in their states? Wike, for example, has been a minister. He has just spent eight years as governor of Rivers State. Can’t the President tell him to nominate somebody else? El –Rufai was a minister, too and he has just finished a second term as governor of Kaduna State. He deserved some rest. I am really disappointed in the President. He should have done better,”Ojo told THEWILL.
A few reactions to the list of ministerial nominees across the social media include one on Twitter. @firstladyship wrote: “A ministerial list with the likes of El-Rufai, Wike, Dave Umahi, Badaru Abubakar, Hannatu Musawa, Betta Edu and others, is a compensatory list. It took Tinubu the final hour to produce a list of ex-governors and political jobbers. Where are the so-called technocrats or super ministers?”
Also @Mykoladoo tweeted: “Ministerial positions have become compensation slots rather than opportunities for technocrats who can make a difference. The list was filled with ex-governors, Senators and Reps. Nothing for those who waited to be leaders of tomorrow.”
@AdaAnambra2023 hailed Tinubu for nominating a young woman, Betta Edu. She tweeted: “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu @officialABAT breaks record appoints 36 years-old, youngest minister in the fourth republic of Nigeria, Dr Betta Edu, medical doctor per excellence and a humanitarian Icon.
“In what looks like a miracle for the Nigerian youths, who have so far been shut out of the Federal Executive Council of Nigeria, President Bola Tinubu has defied all odds to nominate the youngest minister in the history of Nigerian politics in the history of this country. Dr Betta Edu @edu_betta, a Harvard certified, 36-year-old medical doctor and public health specialist with passion for humanity.”
Another political commentator, Adamou prayed that the Almighty God would give the President the wisdom to remember competent Nigerian youths in future appointments, saying recycling old politicians will not augur well for the country.
Chizo Geoff in his own comment said, “I have maintained that we can only move forward when we have committed technocrats instead of core politicians as leaders.”
“My question is, does it mean that the ex-governors have nothing else to do? Looking at El-Rufai’s academic records it shows that he can be a university teacher. What are they really looking for? He was a one-time FCT minister. And now he’s back to being a minister?” Charles Obi queried.
Political activist, Deji Adeyanju, in his reaction to the list said, “ElRufai rewarded for all his religious bigotry and hate speech. Decent people don’t go far in Nigeria politics, but it’s always the bad guys that succeed.”
Responding to a tweet by El-Rufai’s wife, Adeyanju said, “Una family just come life to chop Govt money. Congratulations to all of you.”
Senator Shehu Sani said he was unimpressed and disappointed by the ministerial list announced by the Senate, describing it as one filled with “some Serpents with a known history of treachery.”
He said: “The President embraced some serpents with a known history of treachery and rewarded some vultures for playing the Judas. Appeasing a snake in a palace doesn’t spare the King.”
Sani warned President Tinubu against some of the people he included in the cabinet list, saying they are the ones who can cause a rift between him and Vice President Kashim Shettima.
Speaking on the list, the leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church Lagos, Primate Elijah Ayodele, warned that it could trigger internal issues within the All Progressives Congress as some party members might feel neglected.
He advised the President to consider employing technocrats in his cabinet.
Dec Uche (@Dec_Uche) expressed disappointment over the inclusion of certain candidates, describing it as a “shame” and labelling some as “cancerous ministers of APC.”
Some Nigerians also criticised the list for lack of detailed information about the nominees, including their states of representation and portfolios. Some citizens questioned why the constitutional requirements were not fully met in the list.
A public affairs analyst, Joe Akpandem, stated that while there are some technocrats among the nominees, others seem to be less ideal choices.
Another Nigerian queried, “After almost 60 days in the Office of President, nobody could check the constitution that this list meets the basic constitutional requirement to list names with state represented and portfolio?
“I would have expected that the Chief of Staff would not let the letter go without these details and that the Senate President would quietly call the Villa and insist not only on these details but also the full list of 36 nominees plus any others before formally accepting it and reading it out. We need to do things properly in this country.”
AYO ESAN, has been actively reporting and analyzing political events for different newspapers for over 18 years. He has also successfully covered national and state elections in Nigeria since the inception of this democracy in 1999.
