In an ongoing process to appoint ministers, the former Speaker of the House of Representatives has submitted a second list containing additional ministerial nominees to Senate President Godswill Akpabio at precisely 03:19 pm.
Akpabio is expected to reveal these new nominees after screening the initial 28 candidates from the first batch. As of the latest report, the Senate has already conducted screenings for 25 of the initial nominees, leaving three more candidates to be assessed.
Last Thursday, Gbajabiamila submitted the first list of 28 nominees to the upper chamber and announced that more names would be forwarded subsequently.
Among those who underwent screening on Wednesday were Dele Alake, Lateef Fagbemi, and Muhammad Idris, while Ali Pate and Doris Uzoka were next in line. The previous day, Tuesday, nine nominees were screened, including ex-governors Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna) and Dave Umahi (Ebonyi); Wale Edun, Uche Nnaji, Stella Okotete, Adebayo Adelabu, Ekperikpe Ekpo, Hannatu Musawa, and Musa Dangiwa.
Earlier in the week, on Monday, the upper chamber reviewed 14 out of the 28 nominees forwarded by the President the week before.
Some notable names screened on Monday were former governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike; Abubakar Kyari from Borno State; Nkiruka Onyejeocha (Abia State); Bello Muhammad (Sokoto State); Sani Abubakar Danladi (Taraba State); and Badaru Abubakar (Jigawa State).
Others included Joseph Utsev (Benue State), Olubunmi Tunji Ojo (Ondo State), Betta Edu (Cross River State), Uju Kennedy Ohaneye (Anambra State), Abubakar Momoh (Edo State), John Enoh (Cross River State), Iman Suleiman Ibrahim (Nasarawa State), and Yusuf Maitama Tuggar (Bauchi State).
According to Section 147 (3) of the 1999 Constitution, the President must appoint at least one minister from each of the 36 states. However, as of now, eleven states – Adamawa, Bayelsa, Gombe, Kano, Kebbi, Kogi, Lagos, Osun, Yobe, Plateau, and Zamfara — and the Federal Capital Territory are yet to have their ministerial nominees put forward.
