Osinbajo Meets Dogara, Reps Behind Closed Door

The Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, on Thursday night met behind closed doors with some principal officers of the House of Representatives.

The meeting which was held inside Osinbajo’s official residence, Aguda House, inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja was said to have started at about 10pm.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, led other principal officers to the meeting.

Some presidential aides also joined Osinbajo at the meeting which was believed to be part of efforts aimed at resolving the row between the National Assembly and the Executive.

The House of Representatives had on Tuesday handed down a seven-day ultimatum to the Acting President to inaugurate the two ministers-designate that were screened by the Senate in May.


The Senate has also been at loggerheads with the Executive over the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, who has remained in office despite that the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly had rejected his nomination twice.

Osinbajo had so far failed to inaugurate the two ministers who were on May 3 confirmed by the Senate, Stephen Ocheni (Kogi) and Suleiman Hassan (Gombe).

The slots of Kogi and Gombe States in the federal cabinet had been vacant following the death of the Minister of State for Labour, Mr. James Ocholi (SAN), in an accident on March 6, 2016; and the appointment of former Minister of the Environment, Amina Mohammed, as the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations.

The Acting President had also told State House correspondents on Wednesday that he had no date in mind for the inauguration.