President Tinubu Can’t Dish Out Appointments Without Senate Approval- Omokri Counters Critics Drawing Parallels Between Nigeria And Turkey

President Tinubu Can’t Dish Out Appointments Without Senate Approval- Reno Omokri Floors Critics Comparing Nigeria With Turkey

Written By Oshiobugie Omo-Ikirodah

Former Presidential aide, Reno Omokri has effectively countered critics who drew comparisons between Nigeria and Turkey by emphasizing that President Tinubu, or any Nigerian president for that matter, cannot unilaterally make appointments without the approval of the Senate. CONTINUE READING

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This comes after controversies of when the President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu will appoint his cabinet of ministers, presidential aide, and domestic aide, after promising to hit the ground running. Although Tinubu has appointed Chief of Staff in the person of Femi Gbajiabiamila, and Secretary General of Federation in the person of George Akume.

Other appointments will be made by the President after the inauguration of the tenth National Assembly.

In his argument, Omokri highlights a crucial distinction between the political systems of Nigeria and Turkey. In Turkey, the president possesses considerable executive powers, including the ability to make appointments without requiring parliamentary approval. However, in Nigeria’s presidential system, the president’s authority is to appoint individuals after approval from the red chamber.

In his words, he said;

“It is pandering to the headless mob to compare the speed at which President Recep Erdogan of Turkey would announce his cabinet to the pace at which President Bola announced his. I have been to Turkey thrice. First and foremost, Erdogan was an incumbent, which means that he already had a cabinet in place before and during the election and merely made slight changes after he won.”

“Secondly, after the 2017 Turkish constitutional referendum, Turkey’s Constitution was amended to allow the President to constitute his cabinet WITHOUT parliamentary approval. Please research it. The cabinet Erdogan declared on July 9, 2018, and again yesterday, June 3, 2023, did NOT require parliamentary approval. Erdogan just announced names, and you automatically became ministers.”

“The situation in Nigeria is different. Tinubu is not an incumbent. Even if he was an incumbent, neither he nor anybody else who won the election (be it Waziri Atiku Abubakar or Peter Obi) could appoint a cabinet without Senatorial approval. It is a mandatory constitutional requirement. It is not a choice. And for that to happen, Tinubu constitutionally has to wait for the tenth Senate to be inaugurated. And they have NOT been inaugurated. What we have is the ninth Senate, and they are not sitting. And even if they are sitting, they lack the powers to approve Tinubu’s cabinet nominees. If they do it, the same people now criticising Tinubu because of Erdogan will go to court to challenge the validity of that cabinet.”

Source: Bushradiogist