On Monday, the Senate approved 45 of President Bola Tinubu’s 48 ministry candidates.
However, it put the brakes on the nominations of Nasir El-Rufai, the former governor of Kaduna State; Sani Abubakar Danladi, the former deputy governor of Taraba State; and Stella Okotete, the former executive director of business development at the Nigeria Import and Export Bank from Delta State.
The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, presided over the screening conducted by the Committee of the Whole on the Senate Chamber’s main floor before confirming the appointments of others.
President Tinubu nominated them in two separate batches as ministers and wrote to the Senate requesting confirmation days before they were actually confirmed.
Its newly confirmed ministers are geographically distributed as follows: 9 from the North West, 9 from the South West, 8 from the North East, 8 from the North Central, 7 from the South South, 5 from the South East.
Jigawa’s Badaru Abubakar, Kano’s Mariya Mahmoud, Katsina’s Ahmed Dangiwa, Katsina’s Hannatu Musawa, Kebbi’s Dr. Yusuf Tanko Sununu, Atiku Bagudu, Sokoto’s Bello Muhammad Goronyo, and Zamfara’s Bello Matawalle are the new ministers appointed from the North-West.
Dele Alake, who represents Ekiti State; Tunji Alausa, Lola Ade John, Olawale Edun, Ishak Salako, Bosun Tijjani, and Olubunmi Tunji Ojo, Ondo; Adegboyega Oyetola, Osun; and Waheed Adebayo Adelabu, Oyo; are all from the South West.
Prof. Tahir Mamman of Adamawa, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar of Bauchi, Ali Pate of Bauchi, Abubakar Kyari of Borno, Alkali Ahmed Saidu of Gombe, Uba Maigari Ahmadu of Taraba, and Ibrahim Geidam of Yobe State are the new ministers appointed from the North East.
Joseph Utsev of Benue State, Shuaibu Abubakar Audu of Kogi State, Lateef Fagbemi of Kwara State, Iman Suleiman Ibrahim of Nasarawa State, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi of Niger, Muhammad Idris of Niger, Simon Lalong of Plateau State, and Muhammad Idris of Niger make up the North-Central.
Federal Capital Territory native Zaphaniah Bitrus Jisalo.
From the South-South region we have Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, Senator John Enoh of Cross River, Dr. Betta Edu of Cross River, Senator Heineken Lokpobri of Bayelsa, Governor Festus Keyamo of Delta, Governor Abubakar Momoh of Edo, and Governor Betta Edu of Cross River.
From the states of Enugu, Imo, Ebonyi, Abia, and Abia, we have Uche Nnaji, David Umahi, Nkeiruka Onyejocha, and Uju Kennedy Ohaneye, respectively.
The Red Chamber had already interviewed the President’s last two cabinet candidates earlier in the day.
Festus Keyamo, SAN of Delta State and Dr. Mariya Mahmoud Bunkure of Kano State.
On Friday, August 4, Tinubu withdrew Kano doctor Maryam Shetty’s nomination and replaced her with another Kano doctor, Mahmud-Bunkure.
He also nominated Mr. Festus Keyamo, SAN, the former Minister of State for Labor and Employment, in a letter to the Senate President that was read on the Senate floor.
The first group of 28 nominees was sent to the Senate on Thursday, July 27, by the President’s Chief of Staff and former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, and the second and final group of 19 nominees was sent on Wednesday, August 2, by the same aide.
The Senate President stated following the confirmation that further nominee appointments would be confirmed at a later date after they received clearance from the appropriate security agencies.
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