President Bola Tinubu on Monday inaugurated the new ministers as members of the Federal Executive Council after swearing in 45 ministers cleared by the Senate.
The inauguration which took place at the Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja, came 84 days after the President took office on May 29, 2023.
President Tinubu in the company of Vice President Kashim Shettima administered the oath of office and allegiance to the 45 Ministers-designate one after the other.
The ceremony was preceded at the weekend by proper documentation of the new Ministers by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
The documentation which commenced on Saturday was concluded on Sunday with the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, ensuring all went on well with the Minister-designates who were attended to by officials at the Three Arms Zone office of the SGF in Abuja.
The President had last month in two batches sent a 48-man ministerial list to the Senate for confirmation.
The upper chamber of the National Assembly after screening the nominees for six days eventually confirmed 45 of them as Ministers-designate while confirmation of three others including former Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, were kept on hold by the Senate due to outstanding security issues against them.
The Presidency had also last Wednesday assigned portfolios to all the 45 Minister-designates ahead of their inauguration today.
This was a clear departure from the past when portfolios were usually assigned to Ministers on their day of inauguration.
In the list released by a top Presidency official at the State House, Abuja former Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, is the new Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), who assumption of office on Monday, said he had secured the mandate of President Bola Tinubu to sanitise Abuja into a world class city within a very short time regardless of ‘whose ox is gored’.
Making the disclosure at a news briefing, where he unveiled his 10-point agenda, Wike, who was accompanied by the FCT Minister of State, Dr Mariya Mahmoud, vowed to step on toes in his bid to sanistise the nation’s capital.
“We will bring FCT back to where it ought to be. So many people have complained that this is not the FCT of the founding fathers. We must tackle issue of security. FCT should be where people come for holidays.
“It is not going to be business as usual. So many people have complained that the FCT has lost the sense for which it was established by its founding fathers. We have to make the FCT one of the best cities in the world. This is one of the things we want to do in the short, medium and long terms.
“Abuja is supposed to be one of the safest places in the world. The issue of security must be tackled and we are ready to provide all the necessary logistics for the security agencies to do their work. I already know the problems from Rivers, where I came from. Our duty is to provide the tools to support the security agencies.
“After that, I won’t tolerate any excuses. If they can’t safeguard the place then we will continue to have problems. The Police Commissioner must identify all the hotspots in the FCT and treat those who steal manholes as armed robbers. I don’t want to fail Mr. President for having the confidence by appointing a person from the opposition like me as a minister.”
Former governor of Ebonyi state, Senator David Umahi is Works Minister; Festus Keyamo is named Aviation and Aerospace Minister and Aerospace Development Minister while former governor of Osun State, Adegboyega Oyetola is to man Transportation Ministry.
While the Minister of Petroleum Resources has been possibly reserved for President Tinubu as was the system with past administrations, the list released has Bosun Tijani as Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy; Ishak Salako as Minister of State, Environment and Ecological Management; Wale Edun as Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy.
The list also has Bunmi Tunji –Ojo as Minister of Marine and Blue Economy; Adedayo Adelabu as Minister of Power; Tunji Alausa as Minister of State, Health and Social Welfare; Dele Alake as Minister of Solid Minerals Development; Lola Ade-John as Minister of Tourism; Adegboyega Oyetola as Minister of Transportation; Doris Anite as Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment; Uche Nnaji as Minister of Innovation Science and Technology; Nkiruka Onyejeocha as Minister of State, Labour and Employment; and Uju Kennedy as Minister of Women Affairs.
Minister of Youth is Abubakar Momoh; Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation is Betta Edu; Minister of State, Gas Resources is Ekperikpe Ekpo; Minister of State, Petroleum Resources is Heineken Lokpobiri; and Minister of Sports Development is John Enoh.
Others are Hannatu Musawa as Minister of Art, Culture and creative Economy; Mohammed Badaru is Minister of Defense; Bello Mattawale is Minister of State Defense; Minister of State Education is Yusuf Sununu; Minister of Housing and Urban Development is Ahmed Dangiwa; Minister of State, Housing and Urban Development is Abdullahi Gwarzo; Minister of Budget and National Planning is Atiku Bagudu.
The President also reserved the Minister of Environment and Ecological Management for the Nominee from Kaduna state who is yet to be announced.
Minister of State for the FCT is Mairiga Mahmud; Minister of State, Water Resources and Sanitation is Bello Goronyo; Minister of Agriculture and Food Security is Abubakar Kyari; Minister of Education is Tahir Maman; Minister of Interior is Saidu Alkali; Minister of Foreign Affairs is Yusuf Tuggar; Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare is Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, who said he was ready to implement policies that would enhance the standard of the health sector and improve the lives of Nigerians and Minister of Police Affairs is Ibrahim Geidam.
Minister of State Steel Development is Maigari Ahmadu; Minister of Steel Development is Shuaibu Audu; and Minister of Information and National orientation is Muhammed Idris.
Lateef Fagbemi is Attorney of the Federation and Minister of Justice; Minister of Labour and Employment is Simon Lalong; Minister of State for Police Affairs, Imaan Sulaiman- Ibrahim; Minister of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs is Zephaniah Jisalo.
While Joseph Utsev is Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Aliyi Sabi is Abdullahi Minister of Agriculture and Food Security.
Virtually all the new Ministers stressed on team spirit, selflessness professionalism while addressing their respective ministry staff on Monday upon assumption of office.
