APC National Secretary justifies Tinubu’s Ministerial list

The National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Ajibola Bashiru, has defended the number of nominees recently cleared by the Senate.

The Red Chamber had cleared 45 out of the 48 nominees sent to it by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The main opposition Party, the People’s Democratic Party, and certain individuals have criticised the number, considering it bloated and contrary to the administration’s promise to reduce governance costs.

Addressing journalists after the inaugural meeting of the Abdullahi Umar Ganduje-led National Working Committee of the APC, Senator Bashiru asserted that it was the President’s prerogative to choose the number of individuals to work with him.

He stated: “On the issue of ministerial nominees, opinions are free, heterogeneous. In a democratic society, it has been very clear in the constitution of Nigeria that every state is expected to have a ministerial nominee, and for the first time, the President appointed a nominee from the Federal Capital Territory, which made FCT residents happy.

So, it is mandatory to have a minimum of 37 ministers by constitutional provisions, and adding an additional 10 is the prerogative of Mr President.”

He further emphasized: “Section 5 of the Constitution is clear that the President is vested with executive powers, exercised directly, personally, or through ministers that he has appointed.

So, anyone is free to comment on the size and composition of the ministers. The President has not done anything outside the confines of the Constitution.”

Senator Bashiru also dispelled the notion that appointing an External Auditor was an attempt to expose alleged financial misconduct during the past administration of Senator Abdullahi Adamu. He noted that engaging external auditors was standard practice for the ruling party.

He clarified, “What I think is important to say is that we should not misrepresent the reasons for the resignation of our chairmen. I don’t know where you got the idea of financial recklessness.

On the issue of appointing external auditors, it has been the routine of our party to do so, and it’s a standard procedure everywhere. It has nothing to do with the resignation of any party officer. Throughout the years, the party’s accounts have been audited by external auditors.”

Regarding the vacant positions within the APC National Working Committee (NWC), the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, mentioned that consultations were ongoing, and decisions would be made public in due course.

He explained, “Regarding the vacancies within the NWC, as you can imagine, we just concluded the National Executive Committee a few days ago, and consultations are ongoing at the moment. In due course, we will consider filling the remaining vacant positions in the NWC.”

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