The Senate has declared that President Bola Tinubu will make available the much-expected list of ministerial nominees within the next 48 hours, adding that the President had gone into hiding to avoid undue influence.
The Senate also urged Nigerians to pray for Tinubu to be able to make the right decision within the next 24 hours so that Nigerians will be happy with the list of his ministers at the end of the day.
According to the Senate, the list will be received in the next 24 hours, and that the President decided to go into hiding for the next 48 hours to enable him come up with a list of nominees that would be acceptable to all Nigerians.
This was disclosed on Tuesday by the Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele (APC, Ekiti Central) at his 60th birthday anniversary lecture and presentation of two books on Leadership, Communication at the Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja.
Bamidele said: “Let me tell you, and you must encourage me; I need to make myself unavailable for the next 48 hours because a correspondence must come to the Senate, a very crucial correspondence.
“So Mr President prayed for me. We should tell the rest of Nigerians to pray for me to be able to make the right decision within the next 24 hours so that when Nigerians hear the list of his ministers, they will say ‘yes…this is uncommon’, and join us to pray for Mr President.
“He needed to be away from any kind of influence.”
Recall that President Tinubu, who was inaugurated 29th May, 2023, has up till July 28 to send his ministerial nominees to the Senate for screening and subsequent confirmation in line with the 1999 Constitution as amended.
Following the amendment by the last parliament, the constitution stipulates that the President and governors have, from the date they are sworn in, a 60-day window within which to appoint ministers and commissioners.
Section 42 of the constitution states that “(a) the nomination of any person to the office of a Minister for confirmation by the Senate shall be done within sixty days after the date the President has taken the oath of office; (b) not less than ten per cent of persons appointed as Ministers shall be women: Provided that the President may appoint a Minister at any other time during his tenure and such appointment shall be subject to confirmation by the Senate.”
According to the Constitution, the President shall also appoint at least a minister from each of the 36 states of the Federation.
Meanwhile, the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has lamented that governors in Nigeria always fight their successors immediately they resumed office.
Akpabio who spoke at the 60th birthday anniversary lecture and book presentation of Senate leader, Senator Bamidele, applauded the celebrant for his loyalty to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for over 30 years, when he served as aide to him in National Assembly in 1992.
Akpabio who expressed displeasure with the attitude of governors to their successors said there is no former governor that has not had issue with his governor citing issue of Senator Adams Oshiomole , Senator Adamu Aliero apart from that of Ekiti State, Abiodun Oyebamiji.
The President of the Senate said: “The Governor of Ekiti state is great example of what leadership should be. He has remained steadfast.
“As a governor, the moment you handover power to your successor, he will turn on you. Either his taste will change or attitude; there is no governor in Nigeria that has no problem with their successor apart from Ekiti governor.
“That is why we have to celebrate Senator Micheal Opeyemi Bamidele for the kind of his person.”