Speculations on Ministerial List: Anticipation for the Creation of New Ministries

There are hints from Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, suggesting the possibility of new ministries being created by the upcoming administration. 

Following the handover of the ministerial list to the National Assembly, Gbajabiamila mentioned that the president is expected to release the second batch of the ministerial list soon. 

It was also revealed by the former Speaker of the House of Representatives that the president chose to follow tradition by not assigning portfolios to the nominees in the letter to the Senate, allowing room for reviews.

Speaking on this matter, Gbajabiamila emphasized that “As you know he had 60 days from the time of inauguration, as stipulated in the constitution. He has fulfilled that requirement of the constitution by submitting 28 names today. As his letter stated, and was read on the floor of the Senate, the remaining names, not sure how many, probably about 12, maybe 13, will be forwarded to the Senate in the coming days. ‘’As far as the nominees themselves are concerned, and like I said, Mr President took his time to sift through those names.”

Regarding the potential issues with assigning specific portfolios, Gbajabiamila added, “As good as that sounds, it straitjackets the president to pigeonhole one person in an office or the other. What happens then if you change your mind, do you then bring the person back for screening again, because the president is at liberty to change your mind? For instance, if I decide I want somebody as Minister of Labour, and then after sending the name, later on, I decide that this person would actually be better with another portfolio. And meanwhile, the Senate has screened that person for that particular initial portfolio. What happens then? Do you now re-screen the person? So, a lot of these things have their merits and demerits.”