ABUJA – Acting President Yemi Osinbajo will on Wednesday swear in the two ministers-designate who were screened and cleared by the National Assembly.
Stephen Ocheni (Kogi) and Suleiman Hassan (Gombe), were screened and confirmed by the Senate in May and have been not been sworn in.
The Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, who briefed alongside the presidential media aides, Garba Shehu and Laolu Akande, said the ministers would be sworn in soon but refused to divulge details.
Presidency sources confirmed that the swearing-in ceremony has already been slated to hold before the Federal Executive Council meeting.
Adesina said, “I like the word soon that you used because that is the real position. The ministers will be sworn in soon, sooner than you think. It will happen.”
The House of Representatives had on July 11th, handed down a seven-day ultimatum to the Acting President which expired on July 17th to inaugurate the two ministers-designate that were screened by the Senate in May.
The slots of Kogi and Gombe States in the federal cabinet had been vacant following the death of the Minister of State for Labour, Mr. James Ocholi (SAN), in an accident on March 6, 2016; and the appointment of former Minister of the Environment, Amina Mohammed, as the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations.