Ogun, Sokoto, Enugu… 16 states yet to name cabinet members as deadline looms

July 27, 2023 10:18 am

The national assembly

Newly-elected president and governors in Nigeria are required by law to appoint ministers and commissioners 60 days from the day they are sworn into office.

This is in accordance with the Nigerian constitution as amended. In March, former President Muhammadu Buhari signed the bill into law.

According to section 42 of the constitution, “the nomination of any person to the office of a minister for confirmation by the senate shall be done within 60 days after the date the president has taken oath of office”.

President Bola Tinubu and governors, including the re-elected governors, took oath of office on May 29, 2023.

With 58 days in office, the president and the governors have until July 28 to send the list of members of their cabinets to the legislature.

Tinubu has sent the ministerial list to Godswill Akpabio, the senate president, this morning.

While some states have appointed cabinet members, few others are yet to.

STATES WITH NEWLY ELECTED GOVERNORS

Nigeria recently held presidential and governorship elections on February 25 and March 18 with 28 out of 36 states participating in the elections.

The states that participated in the 2023 election include Abia, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Enugu, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, and Zamfara.

Elections of the remaining eight states which include Anambra, Bayelsa, Kogi, Osun, Ekiti Ondo, Edo, and Imo are held off season.

Out of the 28 states that participated in the election, eight governors of Adamawa, Borno, Gombe, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Oyo, and Yobe states were re-elected for a second term.

12 STATES HAVE SENT CABINET LISTS TO LEGISLATURE

These are the 12 states reported to have sent the list of cabinet members to the legislature.

ABIA: In June, Alex Otti, governor of Abia, submitted a list of 19 commissioner nominees to the state assembly for confirmation. Otti inaugurated 16 of the nominees cleared by the assembly on July 7 in Umuahia, the state capital.

AKWA IBOM: Umo Eno, governor of Akwa Ibom, in a letter dated July 19 and addressed to Udeme Otong, speaker of the house of assembly, sent a list of 23 names as commissioners and special advisers.

BAUCHI: Recently, Bala Abdulkadir, governor of Bauchi, also submitted list of 23 commissioner designates to the state house of assembly for screening and confirmation, but the house scheduled the screening exercise to commence from August 2.

EBONYI: On June 20, Francis Nwifuru, governor of Ebonyi, appointed 35 commissioners in the state. The commissioners were sworn in at the executive council chamber in Abakaliki, the state capital.

DELTA: Sherrif Oborevwori, governor of Delta, had earlier forwarded the names of 26 commissioner nominees to the house of assembly. The assembly confirmed 18 out of 26 on July 26.

JIGAWA: Sixteen commissioner nominees, including eight former commissioners and new names, made the list of appointees submitted to the state house of assembly by Umar Namadi, governor of Jigawa state on July 4.

KATSINA: In July, Katsina sent 20 commissioner nominees to the house.

KADUNA: Uba Sani, Kaduna governor, forwarded 14 names including four women who made the list to the legislature.

KANO: Abba Yusuf, Kano governor, submitted 19 names, including his deputy as commissioner nominee, to the legislature.

RIVERS: Also, Siminilayi Fabura, governor of Rivers, forwarded 14 commissioner-nominees to the house of assembly. In June, the governor allocated portfolio to the nominees, including four commissioners who served under Nyesom Wike, the immediate past governor.

OYO: In June, Seyi Makinde of Oyo state sent some names as commissioner-nominees to the state house of assembly. On Wednesday, the governor swore in the commissioners.

TARABA: In July, the state house of assembly cleared Agbu Kefas’s 21 commissioner-nominees.

STATES YET TO SEND LIST OF CABINET MEMBERS TO LEGISLATURE