DSS screen nominees, as Tinubu sets to send ministerial list to Nigerian Senate
The list containing the names of ministerial nominees in the President Bola Tinubu administration is ready and undergoing final security checks, Sunday PUNCH reported.
The news medium said its source did not reveal the names or number of those being considered for ministerial offices, but said the Department of State Services (DSS) and members of the Presidential Strategic Team were running final checks on the people who had been listed as possible ministers.
“They have the list already. Several names have been written against their respective offices. But they just have to find out and do some checks on a few of these names. That’s what is delaying the list. They are being very strategic with this,” the source said.
Should the Tinubu administration proceed with the appointment of ministers of state, 44 names are expected to be sent to the 10th Senate for screening and eventual approval.
There have been reports that politicians had been flocking the President’s private residence in Ikoyi, Lagos, jostling for ministerial slots, especially during the Eid-el-Kabir holidays when Tinubu was in Lagos.
“I learned that Tinubu’s ministerial list is almost done. He kept a core of ministers to himself, heavily influenced by the kitchen cabinet of his special advisers. Politicians are in Bolekaja over the rest. It’s a slugfest now,” the medium quoted a source to have said.
In March, the then Special Adviser to the President-elect, Dele Alake, had said Tinubu would constitute his cabinet within one month of assuming office.
Alake said this was in line with the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution mandating presidents-elect and governors-elect to submit the names of their ministerial and commissioner nominees within 60 days of taking the oath of office for confirmation by the Senate or the respective state Houses of Assembly.
He had said, “I told you in an earlier interview that it didn’t take Asiwaju more than three weeks to form his cabinet as a governor. That was as at that time. I think 60 days is even too much.
“A month, maximum, is enough for any serious government to form its cabinet and put the structure of government in place after the swearing-in.”
Meanwhile, there are fresh indications that the President may send the list of his ministerial nominees to the National Assembly this week after the lawmakers resume from the Sallah break for their legislative duties.
The development is coming one week after the 10th Senate and House of Representatives adjourned their legislative activities to embark on recess till July 4.
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