President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday sent the names of 43 ministerial nominees to the Senate for confirmation.
Among the 43 nominees are 12 people who were ministers in Mr Buhari’s first term in office (2015-2019).
The remaining 31 nominees, if cleared by the Senate, will be ministers for the first time under Mr Buhari.
The list of the 43 nominees was read by Senate President Ahmad Lawan during plenary on Tuesday.
Some of the former ministers reappointed by the president are Babatunde Fashola, Chris Ngige and Geoffrey Onyeama.
- Babatunde Fashola: He was a two-term governor of Lagos State, from 2007 to 2015. Before then, he was the chief of staff to the former Lagos governor and All Progressives Congress (APC) leader, Bola Tinubu.
Mr Fashola served as the Minister of Power, Works and Housing in Mr Buhari’s first term.
2) Abubakar Malami was a governorship aspirant in Kebbi State. He was a member of the CPC, Mr Buhari’s former party that merged with others to form the APC in the build-up to 2015 election. The Senior Advocate of Nigeria served as justice minister and attorney-general in Mr Buhari’s first term.
3) Rotimi Amaechi served as the fifth governor of Rivers State from 2007 to 2015. He was a member of the Peoples Democratic Party before defecting to the All Progressives Congress in 2013.
He served as the director-general of Mr Buhari’s election and re-election campaigns in 2015 and 2019 respectively.
He is the immediate past Minister of Transportation.
4) Chris Ngige is a medical doctor by profession. Mr Ngige was governor of Anambra State from May 2003 to March 2006 under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He was elected senator for Anambra Central constituency in April 2011.
He is the immediate past labour minister.
5) Lai Mohammed is a native of Oro in Kwara State. He was a National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and is a close associate of Mr Tinubu.
He is the immediate past Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism.
6) Adamu Adamu from Bauchi State is an accountant by profession and a journalist. Mr Adamu was education minister in the first term of Mr Buhari.
7) Geoffrey Onyeama is a political scientist and a lawyer from Enugu State. He served as foreign affairs minister in Mr Buhari’s first term.
8) Muhammad Bello hails from Adamawa State. He was the Chairman of National Hajj Commission of Nigeria [NAHCON] from 2007 until May 2015. He served as Federal Capital Territory minister in Mr Buhari’s first term.
9) Hadi Sirika is a former member of the House of Representative. He also served as a senator representing Katsina North Senatorial District from 2011 to 2015.
He is a pilot by profession. He was aviation minister in Mr Buhari’s first term.
10) Zainab Ahmed from Kaduna State is an accountant by profession. She was appointed the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015.
She emerged the finance minister in September 2018, following the resignation of the erstwhile finance minister, Kemi Adeosun, on September 14, 2018.
11) Osagie Ehanire hails from Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State. He was the Minister of State for Health in President Muhammadu Buhari’s first term.
12) Mustapha Shehuri hails from Maiduguri, Borno State.
Between 1999 and 2003, Mr Shehuri was a member of the State House of Assembly, representing the Maiduguri Metropolitan State Constituency on the platform of the defunct All Peoples Party (APP).
He served as a councillor representing the Lamisula/ Jabbamari Ward of Maiduguri Metropolitan under the old non-party electoral system from 1996 to 1997.
