President Bola Tinubu appointed 27 ministers? Fact emerges

A list of 27 names of “new appointees and some new ministries” allegedly made by President Bola Tinubu and circulating on Facebook has been found to be false.

As reported by Africa Check, a fact-checking platform, the 27-man list, which has now been confirmed to be false, has been reposted on other Facebook pages, with some claiming that President Tinubu has abolished certain ministerial offices.

According to the Facebook post, popular Nigerian pastor, Tunde Bakare has been appointed as a special adviser to Tinubu while Pat Utomi, an economist and member of the Labour Party has been appointed as the minister of development and national planning.

Human rights activist, Femi Falana, was also said to have been appointed as minister for justice.

One of the names on the list, Utomi, has denied the claim that he has been appointed a minister by the Tinubu’s administration. Utomi urged Nigerians to ignore the list.

“Nothing can be further from the truth,” The Punch quoted his spokesperson as saying.

Recall that the law passed by immediate former president Muhammadu Buhari, states that ministers are to be appointed within 60 days of the start of a new government.

The names are then sent to the lawmakers to critically examine the nominated ministers at the national assembly.

The process of confirming the nominees by the national assembly is likely to be televised live, similar to previous sessions.

None of the above scenarios have happened and no reputable media organization has reported such since President Tinubu assumed office on Monday, May 29.