13 more names to be submitted ‘in coming days’– Gbajabiamila

President Bola Tinubu will soon forward additional 13 ministerial nominees to the National Assembly for screening and confirmation.

Femi Gbajabiamila, chief of staff to the president, stated this on Thursday, after sending the first batch of 28 ministerial nominees, made up of seven females, for confirmation to the National Assembly.

Gbajabiamila said that the president had to forward the first batch of 28 nominees, as part of his efforts to fulfill the 60 days constitutional requirements.

The chief staff also hinted that President Tinubu was working to restructure the existing ministries, with the hope of introducing new ones

Gbajabiamila, who was fielding questions from journalists, said the president took his time to compile the list and did a lot of due diligence, going through the nominees one by one, before the eventual submission

“As you know he had 60 days from time of integration inauguration, as stipulated in the constitution. He has fulfilled that requirement of the constitution by submitting 28 names today, July 27. As his letter stated, and was read on the floor of the Senate, the remainder names, not sure how many probably about 12, maybe 13 will be forwarded to the Senate in the coming days.

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“As far as the nominees themselves are concerned, and like I said, Mr. President took his time to sift through those names. He dissected those names with a fine-tooth comb. And that’s what you’ve seen, each and every one, I believe, of the persons on that list are worth being on that list.

Gbajabiamila however, expressed the hope that the president has not omitted anyone, adding that “I hope we haven’t missed anything that would have necessitated any name not been on that list. But we wait and see. It’s a good mix of both people with political acumen and technocrats. So, this is a good balance.

On why the president did not attach portfolios to the nominees, he said that would have been a welcome development, but added that “as good as that sounds, it is a straitjacket thing for the president to pigeonhole one person in an office or the other.

“What happens then if you change your mind, do you then bring the person back for screening again, because the president is at liberty to change his mind.

“For instance, if I decide I want somebody as minister of labour, and then after setting the name, later on, I decide that, you know what, I didn’t know this about this person, this person would actually be better with another portfolio. And meanwhile, the Senate has screened that person for that particular initial portfolio, what happens then? do you now rescreen the person?

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“So, a lot of these things have their merits and demerits, advantages and disadvantages. I like the idea of attaching portfolios, I actually do, because it makes it necessary for the Senate to know exactly what you’re asking and what you’re looking for.

“But for now, it’s been thought wise that we stick to the tradition of sending the names and then whilst the screening processes going on allowing the Mr. President and his team to look at the portfolios and the characters and see how they fit.”