Buhari Forwards Names of Two Ministerial Nominees to The Senate

– President Muhammadu Buhari has sent names of two ministerial nominees from Kogi and Gombe states to the Senate

– A presidency source discloses that a cabinet reshuffle is imminent and will likely take place in the next few weeks

– The source says the cabinet reshuffle will make room for the new ministers and move others where the president thinks they are better suited.

The new ministerial nominees from Kogi and Gombe states would respectively replace the late Ocholi and Mrs Mohammed is pictured above.

Buhari’s cabinet became short of two ministers after James Enojo Ocholi died in an accident in March 2016 and Amina Mohammed was appointed as UN deputy secretary-general in December 2016. The president sent the names of the two ministerial nominees to the Senate on Tuesday night March 28, This Day reports.

Although the names of the two nominees could not be verified at press time, a presidency source confirmed that the letter had been sent to Senate president Bukola Saraki, who will be expected to read the president’s letter on the nominations at plenary on Wednesday, March 29. According to the source, the nominees who are from Kogi and Gombe states would respectively replace the late Ocholi, Mrs Mohammed. The source also said a cabinet reshuffle was imminent and would most likely take place in the next few weeks after the two nominees might have been confirmed by the Senate.

After the screening and confirmation of the two nominees from Kogi and Gombe States, Mr. President would most likely reshuffle his cabinet to accommodate the new ministers and move others where he thinks they are better suited. “As you know, 34 of his ministers have been in the cabinet for almost 18 months, which has enabled the president to assess their strengths and weaknesses.

“On this basis, he would move some of them around to re-engineer the cabinet and get the ministers cracking on delivering on the promises made by the administration to the Nigerian people,” the source said. Meanwhile, NAIJ.com has reported that angry lawmakers in the Nigerian Senate on Tuesday, March 28 threatened to reject all list of appointees that President Muhammadu Buhari sends to the house for confirmation.

The lawmakers, in protest, stood down the executive request of the President for the confirmation of a list of 27 regional executives of Independent National Electoral Commission. The Senators are angry that President Buhari is keeping on the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Ibrahim Magu even after being rejected by the upper house of legislature. They also took offense at comments credited to the president’s close aide Professor of law Itse Sagay who said confirmation by the Senate was just a ‘mere’ duty.