As the Senate yesterday unveiled the 28-man ministerial list submitted by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the red chamber, Nigerians have suggested portfolios for the ministerial nominees.

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio at the plenary on Thursday read the ministerial list which was submitted to the National Assembly by the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila.

The ministerial-nominees are: Abubakar Momoh, Amb Yusuf Maitama, Arch Mamma Dangiwa, Barr. Hanatu Musawa, Chief Uche NNaji, Dr. Beta Edu, Dr. Doris Aniche Uzoka, David Umahi, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, Mohammed Badaru Abubabakar, Nasir EL Rufai.

Others are: Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo, Nkiru Onyejeocha, Hon. Olubunmi Tunji Ojo, Hon. Stella Okotete, Hon. Uju Ohaneye, Mr. Bello Muhammad, Mr. Dele Alake, Mr. Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, Mr. Muhammad Idris, Mr. Olawale Edu, Mr. Waheed Adebayo Adelabu, Mrs. Suleiman Ibrahim, Prof. Ali Pate, Prof. Joseph U., Senator Abubakar Kyari, Senator John Owan-Enoh, Senator Sanni Abubakar Danladi.

The ministerial-nominees who were from all the geo-political zones of the country are men and women of vast experiences in diverse disciplines.

The list showed that former Governors, Senators, six women, health experts, lawyers and allies of the president made the nomination.

Going by the antecedents of the nominees, it is being speculated their possible portfolios.

Those interviewed shortly after the list was made public yesterday, believed that a prominent legal luminary, Mr. Lateef Fagbemi might be the Attorney General of the federation while Dele Alake and Wale Edun will take the Information and Finance Ministries respectively.

The speculators also touted Professor Ali Pate as the Minister of Health while the former Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike is being tipped as the Works Minister. 

Abubakar Momoh is Professor of Political Science and currently Director-General of The Electoral Institute of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and was the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Lagos State University (LASU).

Momoh has also served on several government technical committees and was also a member of the team that drafted the policy on “Peace Support Operations (PSOS) for the Federal Government.

Ahmed Dangiwa is Managing Director/CEO at Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria before taking over as the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria.

Hannatu Musawa is a lawyer, Newspaper Columnist and the Deputy Spokesperson of the All Progressives Congress APC Presidential Campaign Council PCC.

She holds a degree in Law from the University of Buckingham, UK and took a Postgraduate Masters Degree in the Legal Aspects of Marine Affairs from the University of Cardiff, Wales.

She also has a Postgraduate Masters Degree in Oil and Gas Law from the University of Aberdeen. She is completing a Doctorate, which she has been doing part-time.

Betta C. Edu is a Nigerian politician and national women leader of All Progressive Congress. She was Cross River State Commissioner for Health until her resignation in 2022. She was also National Chairman of the Nigeria Health Commissioners Forum.

Doris Anite Uzoka was a former General Manager of Zenith Bank Plc and she hails from Oguta LGA of Imo State.

David Nweze Umahi is the current senator representing Ebonyi South Senatorial District since 2023. He previously served as the governor of Ebonyi State from 2015 to 2023, and as deputy governor from 2011 to 2015.

Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, former Rivers State Governor is a lawyer and was appointed Minister of Rivers State for Education, and later as Minister of Education of the Federal Republic of Nigeria after Mrs Riqqayatu was sacked.

Mohammed Badaru Abubakar served as governor of Jigawa State from 2015 to 2023. He is the Chairman, Presidential Committee on Fertilizer and also the Chairman, Presidential Committee on Non oil Revenue. And he is the owner of Talamiz group of industries.

Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai served as the governor of Kaduna State from 2015 to 2023. He served as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory from 2003 to 2007. El-Rufai also served as Director of the Bureau of Public Enterprises. He is a co-founding member of the ruling party All Progressives Congress.

Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo, is a former House of Representatives member of the All Progressives Congress for Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District.

Nkeiruka Chidubem Onyejocha is a ranking lawmaker in Nigeria’s Federal House of Representatives.

She represents Isuikwuato/Umunneochi Federal Constituency of Abia State. Onyejocha is an active member of the Nigeria federal parliament and often contributes brilliantly to debates on critical national issues in the house.

She has sponsored several bills and moved motions that have improved the lives of ordinary citizens and help safeguard their rights.

Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo is a Nigerian politician, entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is a member of the House of Representatives (Nigeria), representing Akoko North East/Akoko North West Federal Constituency of Ondo State.

He is the Chairman of the House Committee on Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). He is currently serving his second term in the National Assembly having been re-elected in March 2019 on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Stella Okotete is a highly accomplished individual with a distinguished career in public service and business development.

She possesses significant experience in public policy design and implementation, international development, and general administration.

Okotete holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies and Diplomacy from Benson Idahosa University. She also has a Diploma in Law from the Rivers State College of Arts and Sciences. She also holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration and Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution.

Muhammad Goronyo was a former Commissioner for Information in Sokoto State until he resigned.

Dele Alake is a frontline journalist, activist and technocrat and a former Commissioner for Information and Strategy in Lagos State between 1999–2007.

He got involved in active politics in Nigeria as the communication advisor and confidant of Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale

Abiola; the winner of the annulled June 12 presidential election in Nigeria in 1993.

In December 2014, Dele Alake resurfaced in national politics through his appointment as the director of Media and Communication of the Buhari Campaign Organisation to help Nigeria’s former head of state, General Muhammadu Buhari to victory in the presidential election in Nigeria in February 2015.

Lateef Fagbemi SAN is a prominent Nigerian lawyer and jurist who has made significant contributions to the development of law and justice in Nigeria.

His expertise and professionalism in the legal profession are widely recognized, and he has been involved in various high-profile cases as a legal luminary. He hails from Ijagbo, Kwara State.

Muhammad Idris is an economist, Chartered Accountant, Policy and Financial Analyst.

Olawale Edun has a background in merchant banking, corporate finance, economics and international finance at both national and international levels.

Edun is the chair of Chapel Hill Denham Group, Lagos, a leading investment bank.

He was an executive director of Lagos merchant bank, Investment Banking & Trust Company Limited, now Stanbic IBTC.

He is the founder and Chair of Lagos Boxing Hall of Fame, a registered not for profit organisation that runs amateur boxing in Lagos in conjunction with the Lagos Amateur Boxing Association.

He is also the Chair of Livewell Initiative, a not for profit organisation that specialises in health literacy advocacy and practical training in Nigeria, and a Trustee of Sisters Unite for Children, a not for profit institution that focuses on helping street children in Lagos. Wale is the president of Repton, a long-established amateur boxing club based in London’s East End.

Adebayo Adelabu was a former deputy governor, operations of the Central Bank of Nigeria and 2019 Oyo State gubernatorial candidate for the All Progressives Congress.

Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, is a politician and businesswoman. She was the director-general of National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP from 1 December 2020 till 27 May 2021, when the Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari announced a swap and she was redeployed as the Federal Commissioner of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons.

Muhammad Ali Pate is a physician and politician who is Professor of the Practice of Public Health Leadership in the Department of Global Health and Population at Harvard University.

He formerly served as the Global Director for Health, Nutrition and Population and Director of the Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents (GFF) at the World Bank Group.

Pate is also the former Minister of State for Health in Nigeria.

Abubakar Kyari was the senator representing Borno North Senatorial District of Borno State at the 9th National Assembly from 2015 until his resignation in April 2022.

He is a member and the acting national chairman of the ruling Party of the All Progressives Congress.

John Owan Enoh is a politician, farmer and philanthropist. He was the former

Senator representing Cross River Central Senatorial District.

Abubakar Sani Danladi of Taraba State was a former acting governor and deputy governor of Taraba State and also a former Senator, representing Taraba North Senatorial Zone.