Why portfolios were not attached to ministerial list – Gbajabiamila

<p>President Bola Tinubu did not attach portfolios to the ministerial list sent to the Senate so he could have the latitude of freedom to tinker with it if necessary.</p>, <p>The Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, made this disclosure in an interview with correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Thursday, explaining that why it would have been the best idea, fixing portfolios to the names will cause problems if the President changes his mind after they have been screened.</p>, <p>Asked why portfolios were not attached, he said: “Yes, I mean for me that would have been one way to go about it. It would have been a welcome development. As good as that sounds it straight-jacket the President to pigeonhole one person in an office or the other.</p>, <p>“What happens then if you change your mind? Do you then bring the person back for screening again, because the President is at liberty to change your mind?</p>, <p>“For instance, if I decide I want somebody as Minister of Labour, and then after setting the name, later on, I decide that, you know what, I didn’t know this about this person, this person would actually be better with another portfolio.</p>, <p>“And meanwhile, the senate has screened that person for that particular initial portfolio, what happens then? Do you now rescreen the person?</p>, <p>“So, a lot of these things have their merits and demerits, advantages and disadvantages.</p>, <p>“I like the idea of attaching portfolios, I actually do, because it makes it necessary for the Senate to know exactly what you’re asking and what you’re looking for.</p>, <p>“But for now, it’s been thought wise that we stick to the tradition of sending the names and then whilst the screening processes going on allowing the Mr. President and his team to to look at the portfolios and the characters and see how they fit.</p>, <p>“The first step that he has done is that these are people that can work wherever you put them, except these specialized fields like attorney general and what have you.</p>, <p>“