Prof Ocheni: Faleke, Karimi Urge Osinbajo to Assign Portfolios to Newly Appointed Ministers

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Some members of the House of Representatives have called on Acting President Yemi Osinbajo to assign portfolios to newly sworn-in Ministers.

The ministers are Prof. Stephen Ocheni from Kogi State and Mr. Suleiman Hassan from Gombe State.
Twenty days after Osinbajo administered the oath of office on the ministers, they have yet to be assigned portfolios.
Ocheni and Hassan were inaugurated on July 26, 2017, in Abuja. Their inauguration came after another long delay since May when they were screened and cleared by the Senate.
It also took a resolution and an ultimatum issued by the House of Representatives for the ministers to be inaugurated.

Commenting on the seeming delay, member, House of Representatives, James Faleke stated that the Ministers were appointed on basis that there were vacancies in the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

Faleke said the Ministers should not be left idle.

“I don’t think that this is the way things should be. The 1999 Constitution is specific on the issue of representation of each state in FEC. Kogi and Gombe states were left out for a long time. Now that the ministers have been appointed and the Acting President has inaugurated them, they should be given portfolios.

“They were not idle before they were appointed ministers; they were doing something. But, now they are left hanging.

“We urge the Acting President to hasten the allocation of portfolios to these ministers,” he said.

Another member, Karimi Sunday, said Osinbajo had told Nigerians that the Ministers will be assigned portfolios “shortly”.

Sunday said: “It s surprising what is happening these days. It will appear that this government is confused.

“It took months after Ocheni and Hassan were cleared by the Senate for them to be inaugurated.

“There was even a resolution by the House of Representatives for the Acting President to inaugurate the ministers.

“What the Presidency has done is partial compliance with the resolution of the House.

“So long as the ministers have no portfolios, it is still a case of saying no ministers. Nothing really has changed from the situation we had before their inauguration.

“The Acting President knows the right thing to do and he should do it.

“Let him not forget that Nigerians will remember that it was during his time as Acting President that two ministers existed, who had no portfolios.”


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