After months of suspense, President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday sent a list of ministerial nominees, said to contain only 21 names, to the Senate President Bukola Saraki.
The list contained the names of the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu; former Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola (SAN) as well as former Rivers Governor, Chibuike Amaechi; among others and is considered to be the first batch of ministerial nominees to the Senate.
Kachikwu’s name on the list, highlights the notion that he may hold the double portfolio of Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and GMD of NNPC, while Buhari will retain the post of Minister of Petroleum Resources.
President Buhari, in an interview on the sidelines of the annual meeting of world leaders at the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday had said that he intends to remain the Minister of Petroleum Resources. A minister of state would likely oversee the day-to-day running of the petroleum sector, he revealed.