Should President Tinubu Sustain Having Ministries for Particular Regions? Lawyers Speak
The idea of setting up ministries or commissions for a particular region in Nigeria has always had controversies and reactions among the people of the West African countries.
Nigeria has the Nigeria Delta Development Commission (NDDC), a body created to look into the welfare of the people of the Niger Delta region and other oil-producing states in the Southeast and Southwest.
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The country also has the North East Development Commission (NEDC), created to bring back life in the Northeast states after a decade of Boko Haram activities and destruction in the region.
While the NDDC currently operates under the Ministry of Niger Delta's supervision, the NEDC has yet to have its ministries, and creating one was still a debate in the legislative chamber.
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Some of those who spoke with legit.ng on the matter shared contrary views. While some believe that all Nigerians are equal before the Constitution, others opined that every statutory body would require a ministry to be effective.
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Barrister Titilope Anifowoshe maintained that such ministries and commissions should be scrapped to maintain the equal status of all the regions rather than giving prominence to one over the other.
In her view, every region of the country has one problem or the other they are battling with. It did not make all equal before the Constitution when commissions or ministries were created to solve one region's issues and leave the other out.
According to her:
"The constitution is expressed on the fact that we are one."
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But in his view, Wale Adeagbo, another legal practitioner, maintained that it was not bad to create commissions for particular regions, adding that they are statutory bodies and require ministries to be effective.
He cited the case of the North East Development Commission (NEDC) for the northeastern states that have been confronted with over a decade of terrorist attacks and destruction.
The Ibadan-born lawyer stressed that:
"Having ministries for certain regions, there is no how we can do away with that. Some of them are statutory. Not because there must be a ministry for it but because there should be one that will keep watch on the statutory body."
Ministerial List: The combination of ministries should be reviewed
Legit.ng earlier reported that President Bola Tinubu had been reported to have promised to present his ministerial list after the Eid-el-Adha holiday, but there is a need for the President to review the list of ministries currently drawn up.
If President Bola Tinubu does not change the existing structure, he is expected to unveil ministers for 27 ministries on or before July 28, as the law states.
Source: Legit.ng
