Reps move to make mandate President to attach portfolios to ministerial nominees

The House of Representatives has passed for second reading a bill seeking to make it mandatory for the president to attach portfolios to ministerial nominations.

The constitution amendment bill also seeks to make it compulsory for governors to attach portfolios to the list of commissioners.

The bill, sponsored by Eugene Dibiagwu, was debated on Thursday and passed for a second reading.

Leading the debate, Dibiagwu stated that the bill is critical for assessing the capacity of nominees.

It is worth noting that, over the years, presidents have often sent a list of ministerial nominees to the National Assembly without attached portfolios.

However, President Bola Tinubu recently included portfolios in the list of seven ministerial nominees he sent to the National Assembly.

If passed, the bill would make it mandatory for both governors and the president to attach portfolios.

Supporting the bill, Majority Leader, Kingsley Chinda argued that if passed, it would make the Senate’s job easier.

Mr Chinda noted that, without portfolios, senators are left to ask random questions during screenings instead of focused, role-specific ones.

When the bill was put to a vote by Deputy Speaker Ben Kalu, who presided the session, the “ayes” had it.