President Buhari assumed office for a second term on May 29th and is yet to announce those who will be working as Ministers and Special Advisers.

On Wednesday, July 10th, the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, had hinted that the president will send the list of nominees for Ministerial position to the Senate for screening and confirmation before the week runs out.

However speaking to the lawmakers at a dinner in the state House Abuja last night, President Buhari asked for more time to compile the list as he wants to work with only people he knows personally.

Recall that in 2015 when he assumed office, the president announced members of his cabinet six months after.

Speaking to the lawmakers last night, the President said in 2015, he was handed a list by his party for those that will serve as Ministers in his government but this time around, he wants to pick them by himself. He acknowledged that he is under immense pressure to release his ministerial list.

Many at this dinner meeting are saying they want to see the list of the proposed cabinet so that they can go on leave peacefully. I’m very much aware about it; I’m under tremendous pressure on it. But the last cabinet which I headed, most of them, the majority of them I didn’t know them. I had to accept the names and recommendations from the party and other individuals.  I worked with them for three and half years at least – meeting twice or two weeks in a month. So, I know them.

But, this time round, I’m going to be quiet me,  me in the sense that I will pick people I personally know.” he said

The Senate President, however, denied reports that he said the Ministerial list will be released this week. Speaking to state house correspondents after the dinner, Lawan said

“Let me take this opportunity to correct that. A senator raised a point of order under personal explanation and he said we should be sent the list of ministers by the executive arm of government.

“And in my response I said the executive is working so hard to ensure that the list of Nigerians that will help this administration work is going to be constituted, we could even receive it this week. Could is conditional and I will urge everybody here to report it as it is.” 

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A group of 23 dissidents met secretly at the Commons last night to discuss how to stop Britain leaving the EU without an agreement on March 29, with as many as 15 said to be ready to resign.

In an article for the Mail today, three of the ministers involved say they are prepared to back a Commons move by rebel MPs tomorrow to force the Prime Minister to seek a Brexit delay if her deal is voted down.

Industry minister Richard Harrington, digital minister Margot James and energy minister Claire Perry ‘implore’ Mrs May to say that if there is no deal agreed by Parliament by March 13 then she must seek a way to extend Article 50.

Industry minister Richard Harrington (left), digital minister Margot James (right) and energy minister Claire Perry ‘implore’ Mrs May to say that if there is no deal agreed by Parliament by March 13 then she must seek a way to extend Article 50

And in a dramatic development last night, it appeared the Prime Minister was preparing to bow to their demands and rule out a No Deal Brexit.

It came as Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was accused of ‘cynical betrayal’ after performing a U-turn and backing a second referendum – and backing a second referendum – breaking a manifesto vow by his party. Allies of the Prime Minister revealed that the Cabinet will discuss proposals this morning that could see the UK request a short extension of Article 50 of around two months if the PM’s deal is voted down by MPs again, for a second time, on March 12.

If ministers back the plan Mrs May could float the idea in a statement to Parliament as early as this afternoon.

The idea is a desperate bid to stave off the mass rebellion by ministers and avert a looming Commons defeat tomorrow over the motion put forward by Labour’s Yvette Cooper and Tory Sir Oliver Letwin that would empower Parliament to force a Brexit delay on the Government.

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The warning came as Germany warned the EU would stay ‘really, really strong’ on the Irish border backstop and Ireland dismissed the ideas out of hand. 

Plan C – dubbed the Malthouse Compromise after Housing Minster Kit Malthouse brought together Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg and Remainer Nicky Morgan. 

Prime Minister Theresa May met the MPs behind the plan yesterday ordered officials to test its ‘workability’ and decide if it could be presented to the EU. 

Under the proposals, the current backstop based on the EU’s customs union rules, would be scrapped entirely, removing a major block to the deal passing.

The group say if the EU refuses, Mrs May should then demand a shrunken deal where Britain pays the EU for a three-year transition before trading on basic World Trade Organisation terms – effectively delaying a no deal hard Brexit until 2022.  

But one Cabinet minister told MailOnline ‘Plan C’ was ‘going nowhere’.

They said: ‘We were nice about it to get the ERG onside for the votes. But it is basically going nowhere.

‘Nobody can explain why it is any different from ‘managed no deal’, which was never going to work.

‘It’s a mystery why anyone on the softer side of the argument is having anything to do with it.’

The Irish Government’s Europe Minister, Helen McEntee, said Dublin would ‘absolutely not’ accept the reopening of the UK’s Withdrawal Agreement.

Despite the Commons voting for an ‘alternative arrangement’ to replace the backstop, Ms McEntee told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘We are 72 hours on and not only do we not have any proposals, but your own secretaries have admitted that they don’t have any and that there is no solution here.’

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Aid Secretary Penny Mordaunt – a Brexiteer – went public in defence of crashing out of the EU – arguing it is better than accepting a bad deal.

But Amber Rudd, the Remainer Work and Pensions Secretary, hit back online tweeting a link to a CBI warning about the dangers of no deal to business. 

Theresa May‘s senior ministers are deeply split over what to do if her deal cannot be pushed through Parliament after Tuesday’s 230-vote rout.

Ms Mordaunt insisted today the EU had to believe a no deal Brexit was still an option to win new concessions from Brussels and make the deal acceptable to Tory rebels.

Other ministers – led by Business Secretary Greg Clark and Justice Secretary David Gauke – have warned no deal is so bad they would resign to stop it.

The splits come as Mrs May has been holding talks with rival political leaders to try to come up with a  Brexit Pan B in the wake of her humiliating defeat.

She held a ‘constructive’ calls with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Dutch PM Mark Rutte last night, and is expected to have more calls with EU leaders in the coming days.

And she will today hold meetings with many of her Cabinet ministers in No10 today to discuss Brexit and how the cross-party talks have gone.

Senior Labour MP Yvette Cooper became the latest politician to draft laws that would seize control of the Brexit process from the Government. 

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The PM and her Cabinet have been holding a frantic round of cross-party meetings after she held out an olive branch following a failed Labour bid to oust her. 

Tory Eurosceptics including David Davis, DUP leader Arlene Foster, and Green MP Caroline Lucas were among the key players spotted out and about in Whitehall today as efforts to forge consensus are ramped up.

However, Jeremy Corbyn and Nicola Sturgeon have caused fury by flatly rejecting the overture, insisting they will not talk until the government rules out leaving the EU without a deal. Mrs May has said the option must stay on the table, and dismissed calls to delay the exit date from March.

But it has emerged she could face a major uprising within government over a bid by Tory MP Nick Boles to prevent a no-deal Brexit.

Mr Boles is tabling an amendment that would empower backbenchers to push through legislation extending the Article 50 process by nine months – effectively avoiding a cliff edge.

He told the Evening Standard that around 20 ministers are ready to resign if Chief Whip Julian Smith tries to order them to oppose the amendment, which would be considered alongside Mrs May’s ‘Plan B’ on January 29.

A number of Cabinet members are also said to have vowed that they will not oppose the mechanism. Chancellor Philip Hammond suggested he supported the idea in a conference call with business leaders this week.

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