The former governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, has been reportedly penciled down as a Minister in the cabinet of President Bola Tinubu, along with some of his colleagues in the G-5 camp.
Quoting a top sources in power corridors, Sunday Tribune says the list which is ready to be submitted to the Senate this week is the first batch and other nominees will be appointed at a later date.
The president is required to appoint a minister each from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to assist him to run the government.
Immediate past president, Muhammadu Buhari, appointed 44 ministers with some states getting two ministers.
Sources say the first batch is made up of technocrats in line with the desire of President Tinubu to get the economy running as quickly as possible.
Some serving senators from the North and the South are on the list, Sunday Tribune says further.
..,“The president wants a Federal Executive Council that is performance-driven and has consequently head-hunted some highly competent technocrats to assist him in achieving his Renewed Hope Agenda upon which Nigerians voted for him.
..“The president is aware of the need to depart from the old order in the appointment of ministers. He has demonstrated it in Lagos State that he is a talent spotter. Rest assured he is assembling a crack team to confront the problems in the country”, said one of the sources.
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It was gathered that a former Chief Executive Officer of a commercial bank from the South-West who joined partisan politics in 2020 is one of the technocrats on the list.
The person, a Fellow of Chartered Accountant (FCA) is being touted as the technocrat to be saddled with manning the Ministry of Finance where his core competence will fit in.
Sources said that the president has waded into the choice of nominee from Kano State as a result of the face-off between the immediate past governor of the state, Abdullahi Ganduje, and his predecessor, Rabiu Kwankwaso.
Tinubu, it was learnt, gave Buhari the honour of presenting a nominee from Katsina State.
The former president is said to have sent a name to his successor. As part of the demonstration of his determination to begin rebuilding of the economy immediately, it was gathered that the Senate will receive the first batch this week.
It was gathered that those who lost their senatorial bids and could not install successors in their states might be considered for appointments.
“The president is taking time to select those he believes will add value and move the country forward, particularly on the economic front.
The first batch of the list is ready,” Sunday Tribune was told by a source which added that “the list will be finalised at a meeting with the president tomorrow [Monday].”
