By Ayo Yusuf
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is under pressure from people desperate to serve as ministers in his cabinet as he prepares to send names of his nominees to the Senate for confirmation by the middle of July.
The President appears determined to get his cabinet confirmed before the expiration of the constitutionally mandated 60 days within which the Federal Executive Council must be constituted.
President Tinubu has hit the ground running with a flurry of tough decisions made immediately after his swearing in on May 29th when he announced the removal of fuel subsidy. Since then he had taken some equally controversial and far reaching decisions including the sacking of the service chiefs, the suspension and investigation of Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, and the removal of the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa.
All these have made pundits and political observers alike to speculate that President Tinubu will be naming an impressive cabinet of mostly technocrats within two months of his assumption. Nigerians are wary of the delay that led the former President Muhammadu Buhari to push back naming his ministers for six months after he was sworn in.
It is however impossible for any president to delay his nominees for ministers for half a year any longer as the new amendment to the 1999 Constitution, mandates the president and governors to submit the names of persons nominated as ministers or commissioners within 60 days of taking the oath of office for confirmation by the Senate or state House of Assembly.
Currently on a three-week break, the Senate is expected to reconvene next Tuesday, ahead of the election of its remaining principal officers and possible screening of ministerial nominees.
Nigerians had hoped that the President would name his ministers within weeks of assuming office but the president has had to tread slower as the number of people gunning for office continue to multiply daily.
Even his journeys out of the nation have not been able to shield the president as interested parties continue to follow him to whatever part of Europe he went to lobby for positions in his administration.
A close ally of the president who preferred to remain anonymous told our reporter that the president is used to taking tough but politically sound decisions and would be doing so in the case of naming his ministers.
According to the source, “Mr President would find a way to balance the political equation in many states where there are conflicting interests in order not to face a rebellion from his allies.”
He said Ogun, Kano, Delta, Kaduna, and Lagos, are among the key states where the President is facing serious headaches over conflicting interests.
Another source revealed that lobbyists angling for ministerial positions have been harassing close friends and allies of the President.
Some of these lobbyists have reportedly gone to the extent of offering money to those they assumed could influence their choices so they can secure appointments as ministers, Federal board members, or heads of departments and agencies.
Following the president’s recent visit to Ogun State where he met with some traditional rulers, lobbyists have began to reach out to obas and other traditional and religious leaders from the South West, to aid their cause.
