Delay In Submission Of Tinubu’s Ministerial List Is Disturbing – Experts

It has been 52 days since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu started his reign as the number one citizen of Nigeria but experts are beginning to doubt his “Renew Hope” agenda over the delay in the submission of his ministerial list to the national assembly for confirmation.

The inability of President Tinubu’s administration to compose his Federal Executive Council almost two months after taking the oath of office is beginning to be more disturbing due to the worsening economic situation of the country and it is affecting businesses across the country according to top players in the organized private sector of the country.

Note that the Fifth Amendment of Nigeria’s 1999 constitution stipulates that the president and governors must submit their ministerial and commissioner lists to the Senate or state House of Assembly, respectively, for approval within the first 60 days of their reign.

Just like in the cases of state governments, the President’s cabinet is an accurate representation of his leadership style, favored policies, and the team in charge of achieving the objectives of the government.

Olakunle Olanrewaju, Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Affairs (House of Representatives), claims that the President has not yet provided the National Assembly with his list of potential cabinet members, according to the Punch.

Delay in Submission Of Ministerial List Worrisome

The president of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Francis Meshioye, said it was becoming alarming how long it was taking President Tinubu to submit his ministerial list to the senate.

While alarmed by the delay in the submission of the list, Meshioye asserted that the president must come up with cabinet members who will oversee the organized private sector and ensure they are “a round peg in a round hole.”

He added, “Naturally, when you have an expectation and the expectation is yet to be fulfilled, you will be worried. So, definitely, everyone, including the business community, worries about this. But we have confidence in the new administration. He needs to be very diligent in appointing whoever will hold any office. We implore him to do this and we believe that he is going to do this within the timeline.”

In the same vein, the national head of the Association of Small Business Owners, Femi Egbesola, is worried that the president’s cabinet is not known eight days before the time established by the constitution for the submission of ministerial list.

“It is the talk of the town; everybody is talking about it. Not just the business community alone. We heard the news that it would be announced today (Wednesday), but up till now we have not heard anything. Quiteseveralf businesses base their planning on the body language of businesses. Now that it has not been announced, it is holding businesses to a standstill because businesses cannot plan”, Femi Egbesola said.

Delay in Submission Of Ministerial Nominees List Affecting Businesses

The deputy president of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Gabriel Idahosa, also underlined the necessity for the president to pick cabinet members who not only possess the necessary training and expertise but also possess the moral integrity to make decisions that will be advantageous to the organized private sector.

“Everybody expects that we will have appointees with good character, that they do not have a well-known record of bad conduct. That is the general expectation”, Punch quoted Idahosa as saying.

Although the president is still within the constitutionally required period for submission of the ministerial list, Wale Oyerinde, Director General of the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association, observed that the delay in cabinet nominations may be hindering economic activity.

“The law says 60 days, he has not broken any law, we will be pre-empting. While the inability to immediately appoint a minister may have caused the delay in actions, the reality is that he is still within the constitutionally guaranteed time. The organized business expectations were that the president should have hit the ground running since the elections were over, he should have known those that will work”, Oyerinde said as quoted by Punch.

“He should have been operating within the context of putting round pegs in round holes. But having said that, we will also be jumping the gun if we now start making issues when the constitutionally guaranteed time of making appointments has not passed. Yes, it can slow down activities within the context of getting the proper person to engage in policies but in our understanding, he is still within the constitutionally guaranteed time.”

The president, according to Dr. Ikenna Nwaosu, a facilitator with the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, is escalating the various problems that his predecessor left behind.

He claimed that the cabinet members should have been selected by the president within the first 30 days of assuming office “because he has been preparing for this presidency for years”.

He stressed that he would “agree with any business owner that is saying that the president not being able to come up with his ministers by this time is negatively affecting their businesses and socio-economic development”.