SAMUEL BOLAJI looks into President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet appointments – the delay, scrutiny, intrigue, and unexpected twists in a quest for approval
After Asiwaju Bola Tinubu was declared the winner of the February 25 presidential election, his supporters and many other Nigerians were optimistic that the president would “hit the ground running,” especially as it relates to the appointment of his cabinet members.
Many commentators hoped that the President would not toe the path of his predecessor, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), who, during his first term in office, did not nominate his ministers until about six months after he was inaugurated and sworn in as President.
In an interview with The PUNCH, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, the political party that produced President Tinubu, and a member of the Governance Advisory Council, Chief Reuben Basorun, expressed hope that Tinubu’s approach to governance would be a departure from that of Buhari, and this included the appointment of the President’s cabinet members.
However, contrary to the impression created by Tinubu’s team and loyalists that he had it all figured out before he was declared the winner of the presidential election and his eventual inauguration and swearing-in on May 29, 2023, the President took time to put his ministerial list together before submitting it to the Senate for screening and confirmation.
Almost two months after his swearing-in as President and the inauguration of his government, and barely 24 hours before the 60-day deadline allowed by law for the submission of ministerial nominees, President Tinubu finally transmitted a list of 28 ministerial nominees to the Senate on July 27, 2023.
After delivering the list to the Senate, the Chief of Staff to the President and former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, through whom the list was transmitted to the Senate, said the President was meticulous in putting together his proposed team, stressing that Tinubu took his time to examine the nominees one by one.
“The President took his time, spent a lot of time going through (the list), did a lot of due diligence, going through the nominees one by one,” Gbajabiamila had said.
The CoS also hinted that there were about 12 or 13 “remainder names”, which, according to him, “will be forwarded to the Senate in the coming days.”
True to the words of the President’s Chief of Staff, Tinubu sent a second list of ministerial nominees to the Senate on Wednesday, August 2, but contrary to Gbajabiamila’s prediction, 19 names were sent this time, as against the projected 12 or 13, bringing the total number of ministerial nominees sent by the President to 48.
Before a nominee can be confirmed as minister-designate, the Senate is statutorily obligated to screen the nominee.
Speaking with The PUNCH on Wednesday about the screening process, a former senator who represented the Imo East Senatorial District of Imo State in the eighth Assembly, Samuel Anyanwu, said the nominees were screened based on their qualifications, competence, and capacity.
“On the issue of screening, there are so many things (the Senate) screens: qualifications, competence, capacity, and then to check whether they have criminal cases or not,” Anyanwu said.
He added that the nominee must also pass a security clearance before they can be confirmed.
On Monday, July 31, the Senate began the screening of the ministerial nominees on the floor of the Red Chamber.
The PUNCH reported that the first nominee to be screened was Abubakar Momoh, who is from Edo State.
The ministerial screening, which lasted for about two weeks, was characterised by intrigue and drama.
While some nominees were allowed to observe the traditional “take a bow and go”, others did not have it as rosy as they were thoroughly grilled by the Senate.
A ministerial nominee from Sokoto State, Bello Muhammed, intrigued the Senate during screening when one of the lawmakers asked him how he got admission into the university with two O’level credits.
It is common knowledge that the basic requirement for gaining admission into any Nigerian university is five O’level credits in subjects relevant to the course applied for.
However, that seemed not to be the case with minister-nominee Muhammed, or so the Senate thought at the time of screening.
Responding to this question, the ministerial nominee said he had “other qualifications from other exams,” which he sat but he insisted he did not want to burden the Senate with “too many certificates.”
One question that this raised in the minds of keen followers of the proceeding was whether this type of defence was tenable in a job interview or at an admissions screening anywhere in Nigeria.
Muhammed also reminded the Senate that the minimum qualification he needed to “stand for an election up to the presidential election” in the Federal Republic of Nigeria was a secondary school certificate.
To save the ministerial nominee, and indirectly the President who nominated him, from the obvious embarrassment, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, intervened and referred a further screening of Muhammed to an ad hoc committee, stressing that there would be no need to re-invite him for an open screening anymore.
Although Muhammed was not standing for an election, he was asked to “take a bow and go” despite the question of qualifications hanging around his nomination.
Another intriguing moment during the screening was when it was discovered on the resume of a nominee from Benue State, Prof. Joseph Utsev, that he started primary school at three years old.
Utsev, who is the pioneer Rector of the Benue State Polytechnic, however, did not answer the question raised on the observation but went on to inform the Senate that he graduated as the best student from the Civil Engineering Department of the University of Makurdi.
In a bid to defend Prof. Utsev, the senator representing Adamawa North Senatorial District, Elisha Abbo, said the professor might be “exceptionally intelligent” like him, who sat the primary school leaving certificate examination in primary three and “won” the exam.
Meanwhile, during the screening of the immediate-past governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, a drama regarding a petition written against him ensued.
After presenting his qualifications and achievements before the Senate, some senators took turns speaking on El-Rufai’s “exceptional leadership qualities” and achievements.
However, the senator representing Kogi West Senatorial District, Sunday Karimi, drew the attention of senators and the nominee to a petition against him.
Karimi said, “Mr Nominee, you did well in your previous offices, and there is no doubt about that, but there is a petition against you.”
He raised an envelope, which he handed over to the Deputy Senate President, Jibrin Barau, who was presiding at the time of El-Rufai’s screening.
Barau, however, faulted how the petition was submitted to the chamber.
Amid the rowdy session, Akpabio took over the proceeding and declared, “Distinguished colleagues, perhaps I have to inform all of you that I have received similar petitions from people against other nominees, but this is not where we are to deal with petitions.”
A 41-year-old tech guru and ministerial nominee, Bosun Tijani, who also appeared before the Senate for screening, was confronted by his old tweets against Nigeria.
A senator representing Oyo North, Fatai Buhari, posed a question to Tijani about his tweets.
Buhari, while questioning the nominee, read the tweet that had gone viral, saying, “Nigeria is a bloody expensive tag to have against your name. Leave patriotism for a minute- that tag is a bloody waste of energy. A second foreign passport isn’t sufficient to clean up that sin.”
The senator then asked Tijani, “Is that still your position, or have you changed your mindset? Nigerians need to know.”
Responding to the question, Tijani told the lawmakers that he made that tweet out of frustration over what he experienced while trying to get a visa from China.
He explained how he had been a patriotic Nigerian and finally said he tweeted out of anger after apologising to the Senate.
Part of the drama that the ministerial screening witnessed was the rowdy session that followed the appearance of former Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, for screening.
The senator representing Abia Central, Darlington Nwokocha, had moved the motion requesting the suspension of Keyamo’s screening, reminding him of how he insulted the lawmakers from both chambers during his tenure as a minister of state.
Nwokocha also reminded the Senate of corruption charges levelled against Keyamo and how he ignored the National Assembly summons in 2020 over the employment scheme of 774,000 Nigerians recruited for the special public works programme.
He then stated, “I move that we suspend forthwith screening of the nomination and wait until when this is cleared.”
The motion, which was seconded by Enyinnaya Abaribe, almost split the Senate as some senators called for a division after a rowdy session that followed a voice vote called by the Senate President.
The Senate later went into a closed-door session and reopened later to allow Keyamo to apologise to the chamber.
After tendering his “total apology”, Keyamo was asked to take a bow and go.
After the long journey with its twists, turns, dramas, and intrigues, the Senate finally confirmed 45 out of the 48 ministerial nominees screened.
The PUNCH reported that when the names of confirmed ministers-designate were read by the Senate President, Akpabio, on Monday, the name of former governor El-Rufai was missing.
Also missing were the names of Abubakar Danlandi from Taraba State and former Nexim Bank Managing Director, Stella Okotete, from Delta State.
Speaking on the confirmation and reasons for the missing names, the Senate President said, “Just to mention that for the avoidance of doubt, the Senate has so far approved and confirmed the nomination of 45 ministers out of the total 48 ministerial nominees sent to us by the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The others are still awaiting security clearance.”
A few days after the Senate refusal to confirm his nomination, El-Rufai said he was no more interested in the ministerial appointment. He has since travelled out of the country after a meeting with the President.
It is worthy of note that unlike in the past when nominees faced tough times, the present Senate treated them with kid gloves. When some of the nominees faced tough times, Akpabio came to their rescue.
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