President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday sent the names of three new ministerial nominees to the Senate for confirmation.
The three nominees are Dr. Jamila Bio Ibrahim, Minister of Youth; Ayomide Olawande, Minister of State for Youth; and Balarabe Abbas Musa, Minister for Environment.
President Tinubu had on September 17 announced the nomination of both Jamila Bio Ibrahim and Ayodele Olawande, pending her confirmation by the Senate in line with the provisions of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
But on Tuesday, a letter requesting the confirmation of the nominees was read during plenary by the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio.
The latest nominations sealed the hope of the former governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, as Balarabe Abbas Musa replaced him as a nominee from Kaduna State.
El-Rufai was earlier nominated by the President but had his nomination turned down by the Senate after the screening exercise in August.
Bio Ibrahim, a medical doctor, recently served as the Progressive Young Women Forum (PYWF) president.
She also served as the Senior Special Assistant to the Kwara State Governor on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Olawande is a community development expert and youth leader in the governing All Progressives Congress (APC).
He was the APC Lagos State Chapter Youth Coordinator.
He recently served in the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Innovation from 2019 to 2023.
Balarabe was born in Zaria, Kaduna State in 1958. He served as a public servant a member of the Kaduna Transition Committee.
He was a lecturer at the Administrative Staff College, Lagos, before becoming the former Secretary to Kaduna State Government.
Though the Senate is yet to fix a date for confirmation of the nominees, if confirmed, this will bring the number of cabinet ministers in the Tinubu administration to 48.
READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
and then