ABUJA – The much awaited ministerial nominee list by President Mohammadu Buhari was finally unveiled yesterday by Senate President Bukola Saraki.
The list consists of Edo State born Osagie Ehanire, Lai Mohammed (Kwara), Dr. Chris Ngige (Anambra), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Babatunde Fashola (Lagos), Gen.  Abdurrahman Dambazau (rtd) (Kano), Aisha Alhassan (Taraba), Ogbonaya Onu (Abia) and Kemi Adeosun (Ogun).
Others are, Abubakar Malami SAN (Kebbi), Senator Sirika Hadi (Katsina), Barrister Adebayo Shittu (Oyo), Sulaiman Adamu (Jigawa), Solomon Dalong (Plateau), Ibe Kachikwu (Delta), Udoma Udo-Udoma (Akwa Ibom), Ahmed Isa Ibeto (Niger), Ibrahim Jibril, Audu Ogbeh (Benue) and Amina Mohammed (Kaduna).
States yet to be represented include: Ondo, Kogi, Enugu, Imo, Bayelsa, Borno, Cross River, Nasarawa, Yobe, Zamfara, Osun, Bauchi, Sokoto and Adamawa.
The 21-man list according to President Buhari was a partial list which will soon be followed by the complete list of other nominees for screening as ministers.
This is even as Peoples Democratic Party senators kicked against what they described as incomplete list.
Coming under Constitutional Order, Senate Minority Leader and former governor of Akwa-Ibom, Senator Godswill Akpabio, observed that some states of the Nigerian Federation were left out.
He therefore submitted that until the remaining states were included in the list, it should be thrown back at the Presidency.
Presiding Senate President Bukola Saraki did not rule on the Point-of-Order.  Instead, he only noted his observation on the premise that more names were being expected from the Presidency to complete the number.
However, the Senate President announced that the screening of the ministerial nominees will begin on Tuesday October 13, 2015.
Later in a press briefing, Senate spokesperson, Sen. Dino Melaye (Kogi West), declared that the “days of bow and go are over”, stressing, “we will ensure that square pegs are put in square holes”.
He also noted that the screening exercise would run from Tuesday, the 13th October  to Thursday, the 15th October, 2015.
Between now and the screening date, citation of each nominee would be obtained and distributed among senators, to enable them study and ask informed questions.
“We are not going to be guided by religion, political affiliations; no parochial interest but Nigeria interest; this Senate is different from the past”, he continued.

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