"Senate will get ministerial list on or before Wednesday"- Femi Adesina

Barring any last minutes change of mind, President Muhammadu Buhari will tomorrow or on Wednesday, transmit his list of ministerial nominees to the Senate. The special adviser to the president on media and publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina confirmed in New York weekend that the list of ministerial nominees will be made public on last day of the month being Wednesday.


Adesina noted that Buhari is a man of his word who would not renege on his promise to Nigerians that he would announce members of his cabinet this September. Corroborating Adesina’s position, the senior special assistant on media and publicity to the president, Mallam Garba Shehu, also urged Nigerians to be patient, as nothing will stop the president from keeping to his promise.

“The president had said it twice that he would submit his ministerial list to the National Assembly in September. As you can see, that position has not changed”, Shehu was quoted as saying in New York where he accompanied Buhari for this year’s United Nations General Assembly in New York. President Buhari had on September 7 declared in Ghana that his earlier promise of naming his cabinet before the end of the month remained sacrosanct. Buhari who gave the assurance at a joint press conference with President John Dramani Mahama of Ghana told Nigerians and the international community that they were at liberty to query him if he doesn’t announce his ministers’ appointments.

“After I was sworn-in, I said I will have my cabinet in September. I expect that Nigerians should ask me questions after the 30th of September if I do not do so”, he had stated in response to a question on the appointment of ministers. It was gathered that the president who is currently attending the 70th UNGA may send the list of ministerial nominees to the Senate tomorrow.

The Senate is billed to resume sitting tomorrow after seven weeks of recess. A top presidency official confided in our correspondent that the list and a covering from the president is likely to be read on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday or Wednesday as the Senate President deems fit. But following Buhari unshakable stance that people with questionable character as ministers would not make the list of his ministers, there is a growing anxiety as to content of the list both within and outside the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC).

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had on Friday met with President Buhari at the United Nations Plaza in Manhattan, New York, for a parley which fuelled speculations that lobbyists have turned the UN General Assembly to a lobby ground for courting the president attention on the appointment of ministers.