OrderPaperToday – In what seems like submission to public opinion, President Muhammadu Buhari today swallowed his words and named ministries for all 36 ministers at the swearing-in ceremony today.
The president also announced officially that he would retain the Ministry of Petroleum as substantive minister whilst Mr. Ibe Kachikwu is assigned as the Minister of State in the ministry.
The President while in a foreign trip to India told the nation that the lean purse of the government would not permit all ministerial appointees to be assigned portfolios and said he appointed 36 of them to meet the constitutional requirement of one minister per state.
But public opinion had been divided on the matter as many questioned the rationale of appointing ministers without portfolio with some asking President Buhari to reconsider his decision as it would be unfair to give ministries to some and make others wallow around as fill-in-the-gap ministers.
President Buhari however, made a U-turn after administering the oath of office on the ministers when he announced portfolios for all 36 appointees, laying to rest all anxieties on the cabinet which has been expected since his swearing-in over five months ago.
In a speech at the ceremony, the president charged the ministers to be sensitive to the yearnings and demands of Nigerians saying, the burden on the administration is a huge one that required the full efforts of the team to realize the campaign manifesto of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The oaths of office was administered on the ministers in batches of four at a ceremony which had in attendance the vice president, Yemi Osinbajo, Senate President Bukola Saraki, Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, some state governors and other senior officials of the federal government.
The ministers and their portfolios are as follows:
Lai Mohammed –Information
Udo Udo Udoma –Budget and National Planning
Heineken Lokpobiri –State for Agric
Okechukwu Enelamah –Industry Trade and Investment
Aisha Abubakar – State for Trade, Industry and Investment
Khadija Bukar Abba – State for Foreign Affairs
Claudius Daramola –State, Niger Delta
Geoffrey Onyeama –Foreign Affairs
Isaac Adewole Folorunsho –Health
Rotimi Amaechi –Transportation
Chris Ngige –Labour and Employment
Kayode Fayemi –Solid Minerals
Babatunde Fashola –Power, Works and Housing
Abdulrahman Dambazau –Interior
Aisha Alhassan –Women Affairs
Ogbonnaya Onu –Science and Technology
Solomon Dalong –Youths and Sports
Ibe Kachikwu –State for Petroleum
Osagie Ehanire –State for Health
Audu Ogbeh –Agriculture
Amina Mohammed –Environment
Ibrahim Usman Jibril –State, Environment
Kemi Adeosun –Finance
Abubakar Malami –Justice
Hadi Sirika –State for Aviation
Abubakar Bwari Bawa –State for Solid Minerals
Adebayo Shittu –Communications
Suleiman Adamu –Water Resources
Anthony Onwuka – State for Education
Muhammadu Bello –FCT
Adamu Adamu –Education
Monsur Dan-Ali –Defence
James Ocholi – State for Labour
Zainab Ahmed – State for Budget
Mustapha Shehuri –State for Power
Usani Usani Uguru – Niger Delta
