A constitutional lawyer, Prof. Mike Ozekhome (SAN), has faulted President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s new list of ministerial nominees, saying it completely breached the federal character principle.
He specifically said that the tokenism was too little and too late coming because many of the ministers have performed abysmally, adding that even the surgical operation said to have been carried out with the ministries did not have any major positive impact as it was more like cosmetic window dressing.
Ozekhome, in an interview with The Guardian, particularly accused President Tinubu of sustaining the legacy of former President Muhammadu Buhari as it regards the non-compliance with the laws governing federal appointments to promote national unity and social justice.
He, however, commended the president for bringing all the development commissions in the country under one ministry.
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He said, “If you look at the new appointments, three new ministers are directly from Ogun State, the same state that already produced the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun; meaning that in a country of 236 million people by United Nations projection, a country that has 36 states and 774 local councils, Ogun State, which is actually one of the smallest states in Nigeria, has four ministers while some big ones may just have a minister of state.
“This action of Mr President is contrary to the provisions of Section 14 (1) and Section 14 (3) of the constitution. They are also contrary to the provisions of Section 153 of the constitution and Section 7 (1) of the Third Schedule, Part One, to the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria.
“The new appointment list has wantonly breached these sections. Not only that, what I saw is a situation where even the surgical operation done to the ministries did not have any major positive impact. It was more like cosmetic window dressing.
“It is only in the ministry of Niger Delta that I believe the president did a good job when he decided to bring together the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), North East Development Commission, South East Development Commission and South West Development Commission under the Ministry of Regional Development.”
