The list of ministerial nominees proposed by President Bola Tinubu is thought to help shapen his administration’s course.
The nominees for the ministerial list include former Governors, economists, health experts, lawyers and close associates of President Tinubu.
Some of the notable individuals on the list and their profiles
1. Ahmed Tijani Gwarzo:
Abdullahi Tijjani Muhammad Gwarzo was born on September 23, 1960, in Koyar Getso, Kano State’s Old Gwarzo Local Government area. He was a former deputy governor of Kano State and a former Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) candidate for governor.
In 2007, he worked to secure his party’s nomination to run in the Gwarzo/Kabo Federal district, he was chosen to run with His Excellency Malam Ibrahim Shekarau as the ANPP’s Deputy Governorship candidate.
He was appointed Kano state’s deputy governor after winning the election, a position he maintained until 2011.
He was given the responsibility of managing the state ministry for water resources while serving as the deputy governor of Kano state.
2. Dr Bosun Tijani:
Born on July 20, 1977, Co-founder and CEO of Co-Creation Hub, a social innovation hub in Nigeria, is Bosun Tijani. Tijjani grew up in Agege, Lagos, and spent his formative years there before relocating to Abeokuta, Ogun State, for his secondary education.
Tijani has a BSc in Economics and a Diploma in Computer Science from the University of Jos. Also, he graduated from Warwick Business School in England awarded him an MSc in Information Systems and Management in 2007. Notably, Tijani successfully completed his PhD degree at the University of Leicester in innovation and economic development in March 2023.
He oversaw CcHub’s expansion into Kenya, Nigeria, and Namibia. From its humble beginning in Yaba, CcHub has helped by giving young people the resources, networks, and funding they require to start worthwhile businesses.
3. Prof. Isiak Salako:
Pro. Salako was born to the family of Alhaji and Alhaja Ibathllahi Lawal Salako of Oke Oyinbo Quarters, Ota, Ogun State, on 23 of July 1959.
Prof. Salako went to Ansar-ud-deen Practicing School in Ota from 1968 to 1973, and Ansar-ud-deen Secondary Modern School in Ota from 1973 to 1975. He also attended Ansar-ud-deen College Offa from 1975 to 1977.
Before receiving his MBBS from the University of Ibadan in 1986, he completed fundamental studies at the old Kwara State College of Technology in Ilorin from 1979 to 1981. Dr. Salako worked as a house doctor at Island Maternity Hospital, Mercy Street Hospital, and Lagos Island General Hospital between 1986 and 1987 for the Lagos State Health Management Board.
He finished his year of NYSC service at the Isiala-ngwa Local Government Area of Imo State.
He needs to finish his residency program at the Department of Medicine. He was awarded a Fellow of the Edinburgh and London Royal Colleges of Physicians in May 2016.
4. Tunji Alausa:
Tunji Alausa is hails from Epe in Lagos State. He attended University of Lagos in 1993 where he obtained a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery.
He founded both Kidney Care Center, a nephrology practice and Dialysis Care Centre. He is also a board-certified Nephrologist.
Between 1997 and 2001, he completed his internal medicine residency at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, where he was also named Chief Medical Resident.
After leaving Cook County Hospital, Mr. Alausa was appointed assistant professor on the staff of Rush University Medical School. He was then transferred to the Medical College of Wisconsin to complete his nephrology and hypertension fellowship program between July 2002 and June 2004.
5. Yusuf Tanko Sununu:
Mr Sununu was born on 2 February 1967.
Mr. Sununu represents the Yauri/Shanga/Ngaski Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives. He has worked as a minimal access surgeon and obstetrician-gynecologist at the Federal Medical Center in Birnin Kebbi since October 2012.
Also, at General Hospital Argungu from January 2000 to March 2003, Mr. Sununu worked as a medical officer and as the personal physician to the governor of Kebbi State at Government House Clinic Birnin Kebbi from May 2003 to April 2005.
In 2013 and 2018, he served on the management boards of the Federal Medical Center in Katsina and Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital in Sokoto.
Mr. Sununu is a member of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), the Society of Gynecology and Obstetrics (SOGON), the World Association of Laparoscopic Surgeons (WALS), and the Medical and Dental Consultants of Nigeria. He has a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS), FWACS, FMAS, DMAS, Medical, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and Minimal Access Surgery degree.
6. Adegboyega Oyetola:
Born on 29 September 1954, Mr Oyetola was born in Iragbiji, Boripe Local Government of Osun State, he completed his secondary education at Ifeoluwa Grammar School, Osogbo in 1972.
He then obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Insurance from the University of Lagos in 1978.
In 1980, Mr. Oyetola joined Leadway Assurance Company Limited as an area manager. In 1987, he resigned and joined Crusader Insurance Company Limited as Underwriting Manager and worked there till 1990.
He was appointed as Chief of Staff to former Governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola.
In 2018 and 2022, Mr. Oyetola served a single term as governor of Osun State.
7. Abubakar Atiku Bagudu:
Mr. Bagudu was born on 26 December 1961. He graduated from Usman Dan Fodio University in Sokoto where he obtained Bachelor of Science in Economics and a Master of Science in Economics from the University of Jos, where he also completed a Master of International Affairs program.
From 2015 to 2023 Mr. Bagudu served two terms as governor of Kebbi State. Mr. Bagudu joined the APC in the run-up to the 2015 general election, was elected governor, and was re-elected in 2019. Mr. Bagudu joined the APC in the run-up to the 2015 general election, was elected governor, and was re-elected in 2019.
8. Mr. Bello Matawalle
Mr. Bello Matawalle graduated from VTC Bunza in 1984 and received his First School Leaving Certificate from Maradun Township Primary School in 1979. He studied at Thames Valley University in London after graduating from Yaba College of Technology in Lagos. Mr. Matawalle was born in Maradun, Zamfara State, on February 12, 1969.
He worked as a teacher at Government Girls College Moriki and Kwatarkoshi. In 1998 he was elected to the state House of Assembly as a candidate of the Abacha-era United Nigeria Congress Party (UNCP). However, the House was never inaugurated.
Mr Matawalle became governor of Zamfara in 2019 but lost the seat after only one term.
9. Ibrahim Gaidam:
Mr. Gaidam was born on September 15, 1956, in Bukarti Village, Yunusari Local Government Area, in the former old Borno but currently in Yobe State.
From 1974 to 1979, he studied at the Borno Teachers’ College (BTC), Maiduguri, where he earned a Teachers’ Certificate. Between 1981 and 1983, he attended Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria to earn a diploma in accounting. He went back to Ahmadu Bello University in 1990 to finish his accounting bachelor’s degree and joined the Nigerian Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
On the ANPP platform, he won the 2007 election for Yobe State’s deputy governor. Governor Mamman Ali, who was Mr. Gaidam’s superior, passed away in January 2009, and he took office as governor on January 27. In 2011 and 2015, he won reelection.
Later, he made his move to the Senate and won in 2023 while serving as the senator for the Yobe East district.
In various government departments in Yobe State, Mr. Gaidam served as an accountant, Directorate of Foods, Roads, and Rural Infrastructure’s associate director of finance. Additionally, he served as the Yobe Information and Culture Ministry’s temporary Director of Finance and Supplies.
10. Simon Lalong:
Mr. Lalong was born in Shendam, Plateau State, on May 5, 1963.
In 1990, he graduated with a law degree from Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria. He attended the Nigerian Law School in Lagos and received his bar admission. In 1996, Mr. Lalong graduated with a master’s in law from the University of Jos.
Mr. Simon Lalong oversaw the APC presidential campaign council, which elected Mr. Tinubu to the office of president. He served as the head of the Northern Governors Forum.
Mr. Lalong also stood for the Senate in the 2023 general election, but Napoleon Bali of the PDP won the Plateau South district seat.
When Mr. Lalong was elected to the Plateau State House of Assembly from the Shendam Constituency on the PDP ticket in 1998, his political career officially began. He was appointed Assembly Speaker.
Prior to enrolling in the School of Preliminary Studies, Keffi, where he earned his graduation in 1986, he completed his primary and secondary education in the local government region.
11. Heineken Lokpobiri:
On March 3, 1967, Mr. Lokpobiri was born. From Rivers State University of Science and Technology in Port Harcourt, he obtained an LL. B (Hons) in Law in 1994. In 2015, he bagged a doctorate from Leeds Beckett University in the UK, where he studied environmental rights and law.
He was made a minister by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, immediately after he moved from the PDP to the APC, Mr. Lokpobir served two terms in the Senate.
Before then, he held the position of Speaker of the House from June 1999 to May 2001 while also serving as a member of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly from 1999 to 2003.
In 2015, he switched from the then-ruling PDP to the APC. He was later appointed Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development by former president, His Excellency Muhammadu Buhari.
12. Lola Ade John:
Mrs. John is a seasoned leader in the design, integration, deployment, and management of key systems for international banking organizations. She attended the University of Ibadan to study computer science. Access Bank, United Bank of Africa, Ecobank, and Novateur Business Technology were among the clients she served.
Her experience includes utilizing and managing technology to support small, medium, and large-scale central and distributed working environments, organize efficient and successful implementation, and generate strategic business goals.
She has led the integration and implementation of systems in several African banks in order to enable corporate change management, increase technological service delivery, and business strategic advantage while concurrently lowering business operating risks and expenses.
13. Shuaibu Abubakar Audu:
Mr. Audu is the son of Abubakar Audu, the first democratic governor of Kogi State, who governed the state of Kogi from 1992 until 2003. He has 20 years of experience in the Stanbic IBTC Bank as an Executive Director. He has experience in asset management, corporate and investment banking.
Mr. Audu obtained an MBA from St. Hugh’s College at the University of Oxford in the UK. He earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Leicester University in the UK. He got wedded to Jibrin Isah (Echocho), a senator from the Kogi East district of the Senate.
14. Tahir Mamman:
In 1954, Mr. Mamman was born in Michika, Adamawa State.
He received his LL. B from Ahmadu Bello University in 1983, and the Nigerian Law School accepted him to the bar in 1984. He earned a Master’s degree from the University of Warwick in England in 1987 and a PhD from the same institution in 1990.
Mamman is currently the vice-chancellor of Baze University in Abuja and a representative on the Niger Delta Development Commission’s (NDDC) governing board. Professor of law and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
He is a member of the Body of Benchers. He joined the board member of the International Association of Law Schools based in Washington DC in 2010.
He received the title of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) in September 2015. The Federal Government of Nigeria awarded him the title of Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) in appreciation for his contributions.
15. Abdullahi Aliyu Sabi:
On January 10, 1967, Mr. Abdullahi was born. He serves as the senator for Niger North Senatorial District in Niger State in the 8th and 9th National Assemblies of Nigeria. In the Ninth National Assembly of Nigeria, he serves as the deputy chief whip.
The Niger North Senatorial District election was held on March 28, 2015, and Abdullahi was declared the winner.
President Buhari bestowed upon him the title of Commander of The Order of The Niger (CON) in October 2022.
16. Sa’idu Ahmed Alkali:
Alkali was born on 12 February 1969. He obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics and became a public servant.
Ahmed Alkali served in 2010 through 2023 as a senator representing Gombe State, where he served four terms.
He was appointed Commissioner of Information in Gombe State by the state’s then-governor, Danjuma Goje, before moving to Abuja. He holds the honorary title of Sarkin Gabas Dukku.
17. Zephaniah Jisalo:
Mr. Jisalo, who was born on April 3, 1970, started his schooling at Garki Primary School in Abuja where he obtained his First School Leaving Certificate (FSLC) there. He then went on to the Government Secondary School in Karu, Abuja, where he graduated with a West African Senior Certificate (WASC) and General Certificate of Examination (GCE).
Jisalo is the first indigene of the Federal Capital Territory (Abuja) to be nominated for a ministerial position by an elected president.
He also studied Government Policies, Planning and Implementation at the Thames Valley University in London, UK.
Mr Jisalo worked with INEC from 1990 to 2002 and was first elected AMAC chairman in 2004 and re-elected in 2007, holding the position until 2010.
A year later in 2011, he was elected into the House of Representatives from Abuja Municipal/Bwari Constituency as a member of the PDP.
18. Ahmadu Uba Maigari:
Mr. Ahmadu served as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Deputy Governor of Taraba State. Shortly after the 2003 elections, he was impeached under controversy circumstances. Between 1999 through 2007, Jolly Nyame of the PDP, who was governor of Taraba State, appointed him as his deputy.
Mr. Ahmadu works as a lawyer. He oversaw the APC’s primaries for the governorship and house of representatives in Borno State in the 2023 election.
19. Fetus Egwarewa Keyamo (SAN):
Festus Egwarewa Keyamo was born 21 January 1970. He is a lawyer, columnist, and human rights advocate from Nigeria is known as SAN FCIArb. Keyamo was chosen to lead strategic communications for President Buhari’s 2019 reelection campaign in April 2018.
In 1986, he earned his West African School Certificate there. Later, he continued to Ambrose Alli University in Ekpoma, southern Nigeria’s Edo State, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Laws in 1992 and was admitted to the Nigerian Bar in December.
Keyamo was appointed as Nigeria’s Minister of State for the Niger Delta on September 24, 2019, before President Muhammadu Buhari transferred him to the Ministry of Labor and Employment.
20. Mairiga Mahmud:
Mairiga Mahmud was born in Kano State, northern Nigeria.
Mahmud formerly held important roles in President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet, including those of minister of labor and productivity and minister of state for the Niger Delta. She also played a vital role as the Tinubu/Shettima Campaign Organizations spokesperson during the 2023 presidential election cycle.
Mahmud’s name was in the second round of ministerial candidates proposed by President Tinubu’s chief of staff, Femi Gbajabiamila.
