Strong indications emerged on Monday that Nigeria’s former Minister of State for Health, Muhammad Pate, may be on President Bola Tinubu’s ministerial list.
Tinubu, who was sworn in as Nigeria’s 16th president in May, has yet to submit the list of his ministers to the National Assembly as required by law.
As stipulated by law, Mr. Tinubu is expected to submit the list of his preferred cabinet members to parliament within 60 days of taking office. But almost a month after he was sworn in, he still hasn’t appointed ministers.
pate suggestion
On Monday, the global vaccine alliance, GAVI, announced Mr. Pate’s decision to decline his appointment as chief executive officer (CEO).
Mr Pate, who was scheduled to take up the role of GAVI CEO on August 3, told the organization that he “has made an incredibly difficult decision to accept a request to return and contribute to his home country of Nigeria.” .
His reason for turning down the GAVI appointment has sparked speculation that he may be considering a post in Mr Tinubu’s cabinet.
While Newslodge was unable to reach Mr. Pate, a source who works with Chairman Tinubu confirmed that Mr. Pate’s name was on the list of guests scheduled to see Mr. Tinubu “about two weeks ago.”
However, the source could not confirm if the president finally met with him.
GAVI appointment
Gavi had approved on February 13 the appointment of Mr. Pate as its next chief executive.
Mr. Pate, a physician, would replace Seth Barkley, also a physician, who is expected to end his 12-year reign as the organization’s chief executive on August 3.
Gavi announced Mr. Pate as Mr. Berkley’s successor, even as he vowed to continue his work to support routine immunization, outbreak response and vaccines against COVID-19 around the world.
Rejection
Gavi, in a statement posted on its website on Monday, said the board had decided to appoint David Marlow, currently Gavi’s chief operating officer, to the role of interim chief executive officer, effective August 3.
He said the appointment follows a communication from Mr Pate that he will not be able to join Gavi.
“Mr Pate informed Gavi’s Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Board that he made an incredibly difficult decision to accept a request to return and contribute to his home country of Nigeria,” Gavi wrote.
“Gavi fully respects the decision and wishes Mr Pate the best for the future. Briefing Gavi, Mr Pate thanked Gavi Board Chairman José Manuel Barroso, the diverse set of Gavi Board members and partners, current CEO Seth Berkley and secretariat staff for their support. over the past few months, and commented that he will continue to be a strong supporter of Gavi’s mission.”
About Pate
A physician trained in both internal medicine and infectious diseases, with an MBA from Duke University in the United States, Mr. Pate is currently the Julio Frenk Professor of Leadership in Public Health at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health and is He has served in several centers focused on health. boards and panels of experts in the public, private and non-profit sectors during his career.
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He served as Global Director of Health, Nutrition and Population at the World Bank and Director of the Global Financing Facility at the World Bank from 2019 to 2021. He led the Bank’s $18 billion COVID-19 global health response and represented the bank on various boards, including those of Gavi, the Global Fund, CEPI and UNAIDS.
As Nigeria’s Minister of State for Health from 2011-2013, he led a flagship initiative to revive routine immunizations and primary health care, chaired a presidential task force to eradicate polio, and introduced new vaccines to the country.
About GAVI
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, is a public-private partnership that helps vaccinate half the world’s children against some of the world’s deadliest diseases. Since its creation in 2000, Gavi said it has helped immunize more than 981 million children and prevented more than 16.2 million future deaths.
The organization said it has also helped halve child mortality in 73 low-income countries.
Gavi said it also plays a key role in improving global health security “by supporting health systems and financing global stockpiles of Ebola, cholera, meningococcal and yellow fever vaccines.”
After two decades of progress, the organization said it is now focused on protecting the next generation, “particularly zero-dose children who have not received a single vaccine.”
Gavi is co-convener of COVAX, the vaccine pillar of the COVID-19 Access to Tools Accelerator (ACT), together with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF .