The Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila says the ministerial nominees picked by the Nigerian leader are people of proven political acumen as well as technocrats that will help in actualizing his dream of moving the country forward.
Gbajabiamila, who spoke to State House Correspondents on Thursday, said the nominees were picked on merit, having proved their worth in the past.
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The Chief of Staff said the last batch of ministerial nominees would be submitted to the Senate in the coming days.
“Well, first of all, I mean, I’m sure you all know that the government is not fully formed until a cabinet is in place. And that process started a while ago culminating in the delivery of ministerial nominees today.
“The President took his time. Spent a lot of time going through, did a lot of due diligence, going through the nominees one by one. As you know he had 60 days from the time of integration 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 remainder 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 that’s what you’ve seen, everyone, I believe, of the persons on that list are worth being on that list. It’s a good mix of both people with political acumen and technocrats. So this is a good balance. These are people who have keyed into the vision and mission of Mr President. Like I said, it’s a good balance needed to move the country forward, as Mr President is eager to do it and has already started doing it,” he said.
Capacity
Gbajabiamila noted that those nominated are people who can deliver, no matter the portfolio given to them.
He said there is a likelihood that the ministries would be restructured in line with the President’s vision, adding that portfolios were not attached to the names to stick to tradition.
“I like the idea of attaching portfolios; I actually do, because it makes it necessary for the Senate to know exactly what you’re asking and what you’re looking for. But for now, it’s been thought wise that we stick to the tradition of sending the names and then whilst the screening processes are going on allowing the Mr. President and his team to look at the portfolios and the characters and see how they fit.
“The first step that he has done is that these are people that can work wherever you put them, except the specialized fields like Attorney General and what have you.
“But in most of the portfolios, he believes most of them can fit in anywhere. And what’s important is also that Mr President intends to separate portfolios or restructure the ministries in such a way you might be hearing of new ministries that were not standalone before. So the process continues,” he added.
