By Kolawole Ojebisi
President Bola Tinubu marked the first Federal Executive Council meeting of 2025 with the swearing-in of eight Federal Permanent Secretaries on Monday.
The eight permanent secretaries took the oath of office prior to the resumption of the Federal Executive Council meeting at the State House, Abuja.
The council held its last meeting on December 16, 2024.
The new appointees took the oath of office after introductory remarks by the State House Director of Media and Publicity, Mr Abiodun Oladunjoye.
They are Onwusoro Ihemelandu (Abia State), Ndiomu Philip (Bayelsa State), Anuma Nlia (Ebonyi State) and Ogbodo Nnam (Enugu State).
Others are Usman Aminu (Kebbi State), Oyekunle Nwakuso (Rivers State), Nadungu Gagare (Kaduna State) and Kalba Usman (Gombe State).
In a similar vein, the President also swore in 18 Federal Commissioners of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).
Recall that last August, Tinubu appointed 21 federal commissioners to the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, pending their confirmation by the Senate.
The new commissioners were Linda Oti (Abia), Akpan Effiong (Akwa Ibom), Enefe Ekene (Anambra), Prof. Steve Ugba (Benue), Chief Eyonsa (Cross-River), Aruviere Egharhevwe (Delta), Nduka Awuregu (Ebonyi), Victor Eboigbe (Edo), Wumi Ogunlola (Ekiti), Ozo Obodougo (Enugu) and Kabir Mashi (Katsina).
Others are Adamu Fanda (Kano), Dr. Kunle Wright (Lagos), Aliyu Abdulkadir (Nasarawa), Bako Shetima (Niger), Samuel Durojaye (Ogun), Nathaniel Adejutelegan (Ondo), Saad Ibrahim (Plateau), Modu-Aji Juluri (Yobe), Bello Garba (Zamfara) and Mohammed Usman (Gombe).
Others are Adamu Fanda (Kano), Dr. Kunle Wright (Lagos), Aliyu Abdulkadir (Nasarawa), Bako Shetima (Niger), Samuel Durojaye (Ogun), Nathaniel Adejutelegan (Ondo), Saad Ibrahim (Plateau), Modu-Aji Juluri (Yobe), Bello Garba (Zamfara) and Mohammed Usman (Gombe).
This also includes a Commissioner for the Federal Character Commission, Kayode Oladele, and a member of the National Population Commission, Victoria Iyatan.
Council members also observed a minute’s silence in honour of a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Lt. Gen Jeremiah Useni, who passed away on January 23, 2025.
The Council is resuming its meeting after a six-week recess.
On Monday, December 16, 2024, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, announced that the FEC would take a recess from December 18, 2024, to January 6, 2025.
“The second thing I need to mention here is that the Federal Executive Council will be on recess from the 18th of this month until the 6th of January, meaning that there won’t be any Federal Executive Council meeting during that period,” Idris said.