Tinubu names three additional ministerial nominees

• Balarabe replaced the former Kaduna Governor, Nasir El-Rufai

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has sent three additional ministerial nominees to the Senate for confirmation.

Those he picked include Dr Jamila Bio, Balarebe Abbas and Olawale Olawande.

Tinubu nominated Abbas Balarabe as a ministerial replacement for the former Kaduna Governor, Nasir El-Rufai. The replacement was conveyed in a letter read by the Senate President, GodsWill Akpabio, at the plenary on Tuesday.

This is coming barely three months after the upper chamber of the National Assembly confirmed 45 nominees with various portfolios.

In another story, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Gas, Senator Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe, has called on the President to expeditiously present a 2023 Supplementary Budget to the National Assembly to kick-start his Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) project.

The committee chairman, who commended President Tinubu for the CNG initiative, however, warned that it would be illegal to spend tax payers money on the money without approval by the National Assembly and other projects in the gas value chain, which are cheaper than the use of fossil fuel.

The Senator also advised against extra budgetary expenditure through ‘Ways and Means,’ saying the legislature was ready to support and bring succour to the people.

He was quoted to have said this after the interdenominational Service on Independence Day.

Jarigbe commended Tinubu on his CNG revolution to power vehicles. He said the noble initiative would ameliorate the hardship of the citizens.

He also emphasised the need for the President to come up with a supplementary budget to enable the government fund the gas value chain, including the provision for CNG infrastructure and CNG vehicles, adding that the workshops and trainings would need to be funded.

He advised the President not to embark on extra- budgetary expenditure because it would be inconsistent with the provisions of the law.

He stated that the National Assembly, under the leadership of the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, was poised to support the lofty programs of his administration, adding that a 2023 supplementary budget would be most appropriate, instead of the ‘Ways and Means’ approach of the previous administration, which is currently a major issue of contention in the Central Bank of Nigeria.