Ebun-Oluwa Adegboruwa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has accused President Bola Tinubu of not adhering to the provisions of the constitution in the manner he presented his ministerial nominees to the Senate.
Adegboruwa asserted that Tinubu did not meet the constitutional requirements when he submitted a list of 28 ministerial nominees to the Senate, a number he argued is less than the total number of states in the country.
The senior lawyer raised this concern while appearing as a guest on Channels Television’s program on Thursday.
In his opinion, compliance with the constitutional provisions should be comprehensive and absolute, rather than subject to the President’s discretion.
He stated, “First of all, it must be stated that, from a legal standpoint, we currently do not have ministers because the President did not meet the constitutional requirements in nominating the ministers or submitting the list.
“The constitution clearly states that there must be at least one minister per state, and the ministerial nominees must be indigenes of their respective states. We have 36 states in total.
“Furthermore, the law states that the President must submit the nominees within 60 days of taking the oath of office.
“The President took the oath of office on May 29th. By submitting a list of ministerial nominees that is fewer than the number of states in Nigeria, it means he has not fulfilled or complied with the constitution because he sent 28 names within the 60-day period.
“Compliance with the constitution should not be at the President’s discretion. It must be comprehensive and absolute.
“At the time the President submitted the list, he should have sent no less than 37 names. This includes 36 states for the purpose of ministerial appointments, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) is also considered a state.
“Therefore, by not submitting 37 names as of July 27th, the President has not complied with the law.”