By Kolawole Ojebisi
The screening of the newly appointed ministers scheduled to begin today, Tuesday, October 29, 2024, has been postponed to tomorrow, Wednesday, October 30, 2024.
This development is contained in a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Senate matters to Basheef Lado minutes ago.
According to the statement, the postponement is to allow all the seven nominees conclude their documentation.
The New Diplomat had reported that President Tinubu sacked five ministers last Wednesday and nominated seven new persons to be members of his cabinet.
The. ministerial nominees were forwarded to the Senate for screening after announcement.
Bianca Odinaka Odumegu-Ojukwu was appointed as minister of state foreign affairs and Jumoke Oduwole was assigned to the ministry of industry, trade and investment.
Nentawe Yilwatda was appointed to replace the suspended Betta Edu as the minister of humanitarian affairs and poverty reduction while Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi was named the new minister of labour and employment.
While Idi Mukhtar Maiha was appointed as the minister of livestock development, Yusuf Abdullahi Ata was named as the minister of state, housing and urban development.
Also, Tinubu approved the appointment of Suwaiba Said Ahmad as the minister of state, education.
The president also swapped the portfolios of 10 other ministers
It was gathered that in a last ditch effort to beat the deadline, initially scheduled for today the nominees were said to have swarmed the office of the Special Adviser to the President on Senate Matters, Senator Basheer Lado, to submit their documents.
Senator Lado, in a statement, confirmed that the ministerial nominees were undergoing documentation ahead of their screening and confirmation by the Senate, which was supposed to commence today.
Though the statement from the Senate ascribed the postponement to need for proper documentation by the ministerial nominees the real reason for the shift may not be unconnected to the displeasure expressed by some senators from the Southeast.
The New Diplomat had earlier reported that some senators, about fifteen lawmakers, had kicked against the ministerial nominees list from the president citing marginalization of the region, among some other crucial points, as the reason for their action.
It was gathered that these lawmakers vowed to block the screening and eventual confirmation of the ministerial nominees.
The postponement may have become necessary to allow the members of the red chamber to resolve the grievances of the aggrieved lawmakers from the southeast.
