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The leadership of the Labour Party has torn apart President Bola Tinubu's ministerial list forwarded to the Senate on Thursday, July 27, 2023.
The President sent 28 names to the Senate for screening and confirmation after weeks of speculation and heightened anticipation.
The first batch of the ministerial nominees included the immediate past governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike and his counterparts from Kaduna, Ebonyi, and Jigawa - Nasir El-Rufai, Dave Umahi, and Badaru Abubakar, respectively.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) National Women Leader, Betta Edu, led the contingent of seven women on Tinubu's list, which also included the only APC female presidential aspirant at the last convention, Uju Ohanenye and deputy spokesperson for the dissolved Tinubu-Shettima Campaign Council, Hannatu Musawa.
However, the announcement has continued to generate mixed reactions from Nigerians, with some critics lamenting the decision of the President not to include those they considered 'technocrats' on the much-awaited list.
Labour Party joins criticism
Reacting to the ministerial list, the Labour Party accused Tinubu of assembling ‘recycled, spent forces and anti-democratic elements.’
A statement issued by the National Publicity Secretary of the Labour Party, Obiora Ifoh, in Abuja on Sunday, July 30, 2023, noted that splitting ministerial nominations into batches like the President did on Thursday runs foul of the Nigerian constitution.
The party also claimed Nigerians felt underwhelmed when they saw names of some ‘failed and clueless politicians’ on the list as against dynamic youths and goal-oriented technocrats they had anticipated.
The statement read: “Some of these nominees played prominent anti-democratic roles in the previous administration, particularly since 2015, which saw the APC government fail in all its promises to Nigerians. We also saw ‘Prebendal’ politics in full swing where mainly the cronies and lackeys of the APC national leader were selected for a reward for servitude and blind discipleship.
“This list does not in any way reflect the enormous reservoir of talents, potentials, and resources Nigeria is known for. It still baffles us as to why this government ignored the youthful and technocratic potentials that abound but rather chose to appoint spent forces that have failed Nigeria in the past.
“A glance at the list exposes the absence of technocrats who usually form the nucleus or core policy implementers in any given government and unfortunately in their place are fawning politicians who may not be of any help in the needed efforts to salvage and reposition the country.
“Again, we are worried that the ministerial list is being presented piecemeal. The constitution of Nigeria clearly states that at least a minister must be appointed from each of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. The Electoral Act as amended also stipulates that a list containing ministerial nominees must be sent to the Senate within 60 days from the commencement of a government for screening and confirmation. But what we witnessed was a hurriedly prepared list that excluded nominations from about 10 states in clear violation of the laws of the land.
“Sixty days is quite a lengthy period for any serious government to form its executive team. This development appears even more ridiculous because we know that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has struggled to be president for over two decades and therefore should have been able by now to identify and have a solid team selected across the country that is qualified to hold ministerial positions. But this has not happened.
“Had it not for the Electoral Act which compels a government to submit a ministerial list within 60 days, given what we are seeing, one wonders how long it would have taken the APC leadership to form the government. This is because it took the immediate past APC administration over six months to appoint its ministers in 2015.”