Posted by Obafemi Oredein on
The screening of the 13 ministerial nominees forwarded by President Umaru Yar'Adua to the Nigerian Senate begins Thursday, state radio reported Senate President David Mark as saying Wednesday.
IBADAN, Nigeria -(Dow Jones)- The screening of the 13 ministerial nominees forwarded by President Umaru Yar'Adua to the Nigerian Senate begins Thursday, state radio reported Senate President David Mark as saying Wednesday.
Last month, Yar'Adua sacked 20 ministers from the cabinet.
Other ministerial nominees are expected to be forwarded to the Senate when they pass screening by the security services.
Yar'Adua forwarded the names - including Rilwanu Lukman, a former OPEC President and Secretary General, and ex-oil minister - to the Senate Tuesday for mandatory screening after which they may be confirmed as ministers.
Lukman is the chairman of the Oil and Gas Committee mandated by Yar'Adua to carry out wide-ranging reforms in the oil and gas sector. Local media reports have said he may be appointed Oil Minister in the new cabinet.
Others on the list include Dora Akinluyi, director-general, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration, or NAFDAC; Sam Ugwu, a former governor of southeast Ebonyi state; Babatunde Osotimehin, director general, National Agency for the Control of AIDS; and Ibrahim Isa Bio, speaker of the Kwara House of Assembly in north central Nigeria.
Some of the 20 ministers dropped by Yar'Adua in October included Emmanuel Odusina, minister of state for gas; Fatima Balarabe Ibrahim, minister of state for energy (power) and Safara Tunji Ishola, minister of mines and steel development.