By Ayo Yusuf
At least 40 of the 45 ministers-designate confirmed by the Senate have so far completed their documentation ahead of their inauguration tomorrow by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Willie Bassey, the director of information at the Office of the Secretary General of the Federation who disclosed this in a brief update provided on Sunday, stated that the entire process has been conducted without any complications.
The process which began at 10am Saturday saw 30 of the ministers including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister designate Nyesom Wike, Marine and Blue Economy Minister, Bunmi Tunji-Ojo, and Foreign Affairs minister, Yusuf Tuggar among those to finish processing their documents on the first day.
According to Mr Bassey, all those who have completed their documentation were immediately given invitation cards for up to three guests in relation to their upcoming engagements.
Bassey, who promised to provide more updates as they unfold said, “We can authoritatively inform our colleagues that as the documentation winds down today, so far we have successfully documented over forty ministers-designate.
“The process was seamless as there were four registration points and it took the Ministers less than ten minutes to complete the process.
“Also, invitation cards for the three guests of the Ministers-Designate were successfully given to each Minister for onward delivery to their invited guests.
“Meanwhile, arrangements have been concluded to convey them from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation tomorrow morning at 8.00 am to the venue of the swearing-in ceremony.”
In an earlier statement on Saturday, Mr. Bassey had assured that all the ministers will complete documentation before the Monday swearing in ceremony. “ I’m sure before 2pm tomorrow, if they come on time, you know they come at their own time, we should be done,” he said.
The process required each of the ministers-designate to come along with some documents, including CVs, birth certificates or court declaration of age papers, two passport photographs and a citation speech, for those who will want their citations read.
TheNewDiplomat also gathered that security has been beefed up around the FCT ahead of the ceremony.
A police source said yesterday in Abuja that it is normal to comb and secure the territory “ on the approach of an event of that significance.”
