…as Nigerians watch, rumours sprout
Mr.Dele Alake, Special Adviser to the President on Special Duties, Communications and Strategy, says the list of ministers who will support President Tinubu in the day to day administration of the state is not yet ready but will be out in due course.
Alake added that it is prerogative of the President to decide when it is fit and proper for him to make his cabinet list.
He further tasked Nigerians to ignore rumours circulating about a purported list of ministers
The appointment of ministers in Nigeria, as elsewhere, is considered sensitive for different reasons by different stakeholders. For some, the concerns are about the record and capacity that ministerial appointees bring to their assignments. For others, it has to do with ethnic and geopolitical bancing. For others still, the focus is on political affiliation and patronage and even religion.
Political watchers however say that some or all of these considerations often come to play, for premium functionality and social balance.
Recall that erstwhile President Muhammadu Buhari came under some criticism for purportedly selecting the majority of his ministers from a narrow geographical sphere.
Commenting further about the rumoured ministerial list, Alake said: “About the ministerial list, there is no iota of truth in all of those things. When the President is good and ready, you will be the first to know about his intentions.
“I can tell you all of those things you’ve been reading in the media are mere fabrications. This is an executive presidency; we’re not running a parliamentary system. So, the President, the buck stops on his table, and he decides when it is fit and proper for him to make his cabinet list.”
According to the Nigerian Constitution, a President has 60 days from inauguration, within which to constitute his cabinet. President Tinubu spent 39 days in office as at Friday, July 7.
Although the President is yet to appoint ministers, he has however, appointed some special advisers and a fresh set of service chiefs.
In June, President Tinubu appointed Dele Alake as his Special Adviser on Special Duties, Communications and Strategy and Yau Darazo as Special Adviser on Political and Intergovernmental Affairs.
He also appointed Wale Edun as Special Adviser on Monetary Policy.
Olu Verheijen was likewise appointed as Special Adviser on Energy and Zachaeus Adedeji as Special Adviser on Revenue.
Others are John Uwajumogu (Special Adviser, Industry, Trade and Investment), and Salma Anas (Special Adviser, Health).
