The list of nominees for cabinet positions for President Bola Tinubu’s administration is ready and presently undergoing final security checks.
The development was confirmed by an reliable source from the presidency who spoke with Sunday Punch.
The Presidential Strategic Team and the Department of State Services are carrying out the last checks on potential ministers, even if the source declined to give particular names or the total number of people under consideration.
The source said, “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.”
If the Tinubu administration follows through with plans to appoint ministers of state, the 10th Senate should expect a list of 44 names for screening and final approval.
Reports previously indicated that politicians have been visiting President Tinubu’s private residence in Lagos in hopes of securing a ministerial position.
Another source stated, “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.”
Dele Alake, the then-president-elect’s special adviser, promised in March that Tinubu would form his cabinet within a month of assuming office.
According to the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution, which mandates that ministerial and commissioner nominees be presented within 60 days of taking the oath of office, this is in conformity with the Constitution, Alake noted.
He 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.”
Ada Peter
