With the arrival of Mr President, back into the country on Saturday, one of the first major tasks before President Muhammadu Buhari is to determine the fate of the suspended Secretary to the Government of the Federation , Babachir Lawal and the suspended Director General of the National Intelligence Agency, Ambassador Ayo Oke.
Buhari had on April 19 suspended the two government officials and constituted a three - man committee led by the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, to investigate them.
The panel investigated allegations of violations of law and due process made against Lawal in the award of contracts under the Presidential Initiative on the North - East, while it probed Oke on the discovery of large amounts of foreign and local currencies by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in a residential apartment at Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos , of which the NIA is laying claim.
The committee, which had the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN); and the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, as members, was billed to submit its report to Buhari on May 8, but could not do so because the President left the country on May 7 for a follow up medical trip in London.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Prosecutions , Okoi Obono - Obla , had said it would be unfair for Osinbajo to implement the panel's report, since he headed the committee.
Another major issue that may take the front burner as Buhari returns to the country is a cabinet reshuffle.
The Ministry of Environment is currently without a substantive minister, despite all the 36 states of the federation currently being represented in the cabinet as enshrined in the nation's constitution.
Only on Wednesday, Vice - President Yemi Osinbajo assigned portfolios to the two new ministers , Stephen Ocheni ( Kogi ) and Suleiman Hassan (Gombe), whom he inaugurated on July 26.
Ocheni was named Minister of State, Labour and Employment. He replaced his kinsman, Mr. James Ocholi (SAN ), who was holding the same position until a fatal accident on March 6, 2016.
Hassan was named the Minister of State, Power, Works and Housing.
"There are now two Ministers of State in Power, Works and Housing Ministry,” the spokesman for the Acting President, Mr. Laolu Akande, had said in a message posted on his Twitter handle.
Mr. Mustapha Shehuri is also a minister of state in that ministry. With the development, the Ministry of Environment is still left without a substantive minister.
That position became vacant with the recent appointment of the last occupant, Amina Mohammed, as the Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations.
The ministry is currently being supervised by the Minister of State, Environment, Ibrahim Jibril. It is therefore expected that Buhari will make some adjustments in the federal cabinet in the days ahead.
Sun