The Nigerian Senate confirmed all of President Muhammadu Buhari’s 43 ministerial nominees on Tuesday, July 30, 2019.
President Buhari sent list of the nominees to the Senate last week Tuesday, and screening commenced on Wednesday, July 24.
The screening exercise concluded on Tuesday, leading Senate President, Ahmad Lawan (Yobe North – APC), to put the confirmation of the nominees to a voice vote.
Senators voted AYE for all the nominees whose names were announced by Lawan, paving the way for President Buhari to swear them in.
The ministers can now expect to be assigned their portfolios by the president during their inauguration into the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
FEC meetings usually take place every Wednesday of the week, but the presidency is yet to announce if the nominees will be inaugurated this week being that July 31, next day to confirmation of the nominees this week, is another Wednesday.
The DEFENDER, in its editorial comment titled “Why Buhari mustn’t vindicate Saraki’s Senate Presidency”, had urged the President to ensure submission of his ministerial list before the Senate proceeded on its two-month annual vacation.
This came on the hills of obviously sad ultimatum by the friendly All Progressives Congress (APC) controlled Senate telling President Buhari and Nigerians that it would have no option than to proceed on its annual recess as contained in the legislative calendar, if the ministerial list was not received by Friday July 26, 2019.
The media editorial had told President Muhammadu Buhari that he would not only lose confidence of many admirers should he fail to meet up with the Senate deadline but also that, such further delay would plunge the nation in economic setback as no serious investor would want to put his money in a country where policy movers that the Ministers represent are not on seat.
The DEFENDER added that it had become imperative therefore because the permanent secretaries, to whom the past Ministers handed over, have no constitutional powers to sign out appropriated funds, a situation it noted would negatively affect performances of contractors working on various construction sites and draw back other developmental programmes and activities of government in various parts of the country.
The newspaper then concluded warning that the Bukola Saraki, whose Eighth Senate was known for its sabotage of the Buhari’s Administration, would now tell Nigerians to vindicate him while painting the President as cause of what they misunderstood him to be.
That editorial was published on Monday July 23 and Buhari forwarded his ministerial list under 24 hours on Tuesday July 24 thereafter to the Senate, which not only commenced screening and confirmation process in ernest but also shifted its annual vacation by one week.
With this singular commitment to patriotism alone, Nigerians say they now have their Senate of pride.
Here’s the full list of all confirmed nominees:
Uchechukwu Ogah (Abia)
Muhammad Bello (Adamawa)
Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom)
Chris Ngige (Anambra)
Sharon Ikeazu (Anambra)
Adamu Adamu (Bauchi)
Mariam Katagum (Bauchi)
Timipre Silva (Bayelsa)
George Akume (Benue)
Mustapha Shehuri (Borno)
Goddy Agba (Cross River)
Festus Keyamo (Delta)
Ogbonnaya Onu (Ebonyi)
Osagie Ehanire (Edo)
Clement Agba (Edo)
Adeniyi Adebayo (Ekiti)
Geoffery Onyeama (Enugu)
Ali Isa Ibrahim Pantami (Gombe)
Emeka Nwajuba (Imo)
Suleiman Adamu (Jigawa)
Zainab Ahmed (Kaduna)
Mohammed Mahmoud (Kaduna)
Sabo Nanono (Kano)
Bashir Magashi (Kano)
Hadi Sirika (Katsina)
Abubakar Malami (Kebbi)
Ramatu Tijani (Kogi)
Lai Mohammed (Kwara)
Gbemisola Saraki (Kwara)
Babatunde Fashola (Lagos)
Adeleke Mamora (Lagos)
Mohammed Abdullahi (Nasarawa)
Zubairu Dada (Niger)
Olamilekan Adegbite (Ogun)
Tayo Alasoadura (Ondo)
Rauf Aregbesola (Osun)
Sunday Dare (Oyo)
Pauline Tallen (Plateau)
Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers)
Mohammed Dangadi (Sokoto)
Saleh Mamman (Taraba)
Abubakar B. Aliyu (Yobe)
Sadiya Umar Faruk (Zamfara)
