President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has a fortnight left to announce his cabinet, following a mandate set by the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.
This amendment requires presidents and governors to reveal their selections for ministerial and commissioner roles within 60 days of their oath of office.
This amendment was spurred by former President Muhammadu Buhari’s six-month delay in appointing ministers back in 2015.
Now, President Tinubu, who assumed office on May 29, 2023, has until July 27, 2023, to reveal his cabinet.
There were earlier reports that Tinubu would forward his ministerial list to lawmakers as they returned from a three-week recess, but no such transmission occurred.
Current reports suggest that the list is being vetted by the Department of State Services (DSS) and anti-corruption agencies.
Multiple cabinet lists have been circulating, leading to speculation about who will occupy key roles.
In one of the lists, former governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode was listed as Minister of Works and Housing, while Lt Gen Tukur Buratai (rtd) (Defence).
In another, Tokunbo Abiru from Lagos was listed as Finance Minister, while Kayode Fayemi from Ekiti was listed as Foreign Affairs Minister.
However, during a recent meeting with governors from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the National Chairman of the party, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, said President Tinubu was “consulting extensively” on the ministerial list.
Adamu said, “The president has just started. And he is doing his extensive consultation before coming up with his nominees for ministers. The nomination of the ministers will come first. They will go through their screening until they are pronounced after they have been submitted by Mr President. And Mr President will formally appoint his Ministers and swear them in. Only after doing that will he disclose each of them to the country to know which Minister is going to which ministry, and how many ministries we are going to have.”
Presidential spokesman, Dele Alake before then described the lists in circulation as “mere fabrications”.
He said, “About the ministerial list, the simple truth is that you know, this is an executive presidency, we’re not running a parliamentary system. So the president, the bucks stops on his table, and he decides when it is fit and proper for him to make his cabinet list public.
“So, we are not unaware of all the speculations, and innuendos and rumours, all kinds of things in the media. Now, I as a media man, I chuckled to myself that people just want to sell, so they just fabricate.
“I can tell you all of those things you’ve been reading in the media are mere fabrications. There is no iota of truth in all of those things. When the president is good and ready, you will be the first to know about his intentions.”
