The rumoured cabinet reshuffle by the presidency appears on the horizon as President Muhammadu Buhari has sent two ministerial nominees to the Senate as replacements for the late Mr. James Enojo Ocholi (SAN) and Mrs. Amina Mohammed.
Buhari’s cabinet became short of two ministers after James Enojo Ocholi died in an accident in March 2016 and Amina Mohammed was appointed as UN deputy secretary-general in December 2016.
The president sent the names of the two ministerial nominees to the Senate on Tuesday night March 28, it was gathered. Although the names of the two nominees could not be verified at press time, a presidency source confirmed that the letter had been sent to Senate President Bukola Saraki, who will be expected to read the president’s letter on the nominations at plenary on Wednesday, March 29.
According to the source, the nominees who are from Kogi and Gombe states would respectively replace the late Ocholi and Mrs. Mohammed. The source also said a cabinet reshuffle was imminent and would most likely take place in the next few weeks after the two nominees might have been confirmed by the Senate.
“After the screening and confirmation of the two nominees from Kogi and Gombe States, Mr. President would most likely reshuffle his cabinet to accommodate the new ministers and move others where he thinks they are better suited.
“As you know, 34 of his ministers have been in the cabinet for almost 18 months, which has enabled the president to assess their strengths and weaknesses.
“On this basis, he would move some of them around to reengineer the cabinet and get the ministers cracking on delivering on the promises made by the administration to the Nigerian people,” the source said.