President Bola Tinubu will on Monday swear in newly appointed ministers following their confirmation by the Senate last week.
Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, disclosed this Monday.
The ministers are Dr Nentawe Yilwatda – Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction; Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi – Minister of Labour & Employment; Bianca Odinaka Odumegwu-Ojukwu – Minister of State Foreign Affairs.
Others are Dr Jumoke Oduwole – Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment (Trade and Investment), Idi Mukhtar Maiha – Minister of Livestock Development; Yusuf Abdullahi Ata – Minister of State, Housing and Urban Development and Dr Suwaiba Said Ahmad – Minister of State Education.
On Wednesday, the Senate confirmed the appointment of the seven ministerial nominees forwarded to it by President Tinubu.
The nominees were confirmed after hours of screening during a Senate plenary.
Some who had served the country in different capacities in the past, and were confirmed by the Senate, were simply asked to introduce themselves and take a bow and go.
The Senate gave a clean bill of health to Bianca, wife of former governor of Eastern Nigeria, Odumegu Ojukwu, and six other minister-designates.
In her presentation, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the nominee from Anambra, lamented the state of the country’s embassies abroad.
She said that poor funding had put the posts in “deplorable conditions that do not represent Nigeria’s standing in the comity of nations.”
“It is imperative to renovate the buildings and make the surroundings suitable for lawmakers to use when you come to these countries, and to interface with foreign partners”.
She said that among the country’s challenges was commitment to service, adding “If we are committed to serving this nation with the focus of finding peace, we shall succeed.”
A few senators, who spoke during the exercise, commended Tinubu for nominating a minister from an opposition party.
The nomination, according to Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (APGA-Abia), shows the administration’s focus on the unity of the country.
He said, “The President must be commended for nominating someone across party lines, even someone from APGA, and the wife of my former party leader, late Chief Odumegu Ojukwu.
“By this, the President has started a unity government and the process of national integration”.
On his part, Senator Victor Umeh (LP-Anambra), described Bianca’s nomination as a healing process for the country.