- President keeps everyone in the dark on new ministers
By ADELEKE ADESANYA
There is no doubt that attention on the political scene has now been shifted to what the list of President Muhammadu Buhari’s ministerial list will look like. Political actors and analysts are interested in who and who will make Buhari’s next cabinet as ministers.
The debate on the matter became more intense with the recent election of the leadership of the National Assembly, which has seen the emergence of Senator Ahmed Lawan and Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, respectively, as the Senate president and speaker of the House of Representatives of the Ninth National Assembly.
Tongues have continued to wag over the list of Buhari’s second term cabinet as Nigerians remain expectant and curious on the matter. It’s nearly a month since the President was inaugurated for a second term in office, but yet to name his ministers. In 2015, it took President Buhari about six months to constitute his cabinet, but this time round, Nigerians hope that it won’t take this long to know the list of ministers that would work with the President in his second term.
Although Buhari is expected, any moment from now, to come out with the list of politicians and technocrats that will assist him in piloting the affairs of the different ministries and other government agencies till 2023, the President has kept everyone in the dark over the matter by keeping the list so close to his chest.
The President has even kept party chieftains, who should be in the know, regarding his ministerial list, in the dark, keeping everything tightly under wraps as he’s said to have chosen not to discuss the issue with anyone.
Even the power All Progressives Governors Forum recently said it had not discussed the issue of the ministerial list with the President.
The APC Governors said that the matter of a cabinet for Buhari’s second term was purely the President’s decision, adding that he should appoint whosoever he wished.
The secrecy still shrouding the President’s ministerial list, findings by our correspondent have revealed, has, however, heightened the jostling for cabinet positions amongst the stalwarts of the ruling All Progressives Congress.
Although the 1999 Constitution stipulates that each state produces a minister, party chieftains, who believe the slot for their state must come to them, are not leaving anything to chances. They are not resting on their oars to secure the slot for their different states.
Information gathered revealed that top on the list of people jostling to make President Buhari’s next cabinet include former governors, former ministers, former senators, current senators and other party chieftains.
PAST GOVERNORS/INCUMBENT SENATORS
Several former governors have upped their game to clinch ministerial jobs in Buhari’s next cabinet. Among them is the immediate past governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode. Speculations are rife that Ambode would make the list. His romance with the President at the twilight of his governorship of Lagos is believed to give him the needed advantage to secure the slot for Lagos. But the question being asked by many is whether the forces that stopped his second term in Lagos would permit him to have the ministerial slot.
Part of the accusations leveled against Ambode while in office was his perceived link with the opposition Peoples Democratic Party in Lagos State. This vitiates his chances, considering the game that played itself out and eventually denied him a second term as the governor of Lagos State.
But a chieftain of the APC in Lagos, who spoke with our correspondent, Bayo Dada, said, “There is nothing bad if Buhari considers Ambode for appointment in his cabinet. The fact is that Ambode currently has more foes than friends in his party in Lagos. And I can tell you that this will affect him, even if Buhari wants to consider him. Account of his four years as governor would haunt him.”
Aside from Ambode, there are other first time governors of APC, who lost their second term bid in the 2019 elections and are now waiting for ministerial slots as consolation. They include; Jubrilla Bindow (Adamawa) and Mohammed Abubakar (Bauchi).
Other immediate past governors also eyeing a place in Buhari’s next cabinet include Kashim Shettima (Borno), Rochas Okorocha (Imo), Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun), Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo), Umaru Tanko Al-Makura (Nasarawa), Ibrahim Gaidam (Yobe), and Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara).
Although Shettima, Amosun, Al-Makura and Gaidam won Senate seats and Ajimobi failed to make it to the Senate, they are all still hopeful of getting ministerial slots.
Yari, on his part, was denied a seat in the Senate, when the Supreme Court voided APC votes in Zamfara, while Okorocha is now in the Senate, after escaping the Independent National Electoral Commission’s hammer by obtaining a court judgment, which compelled INEC to issue him his certificate of return as the duly elected senator.
But Bindow and Abubakar lost their re-election bids to the governorship candidates of the PDP in their respective states.
An APC chieftain said, “You know there are ten APC governors, who left office recently, and I want to assure you, all of them have ambition. As you can see, all of them contested for offices during the general elections; all the governors, who finished their second term, wanted to go to the Senate, but not all of them got it. Similarly, all the first term governors had contested for a second term, but not all of them won.
“But the irony is that while all the second term governors worked hard to see that they became senators, some of the governors that won the Senate seats are already lobbying to become ministers. So, the competition is fierce because all the ministers that left recently also want to come back.”
An aide to a senator from Ondo State said some former governors, who are already senators are also expecting to be called up for ministerial appointments.
“It is a plain truth that former governors are already also jostling for ministerial slots. I know of a few of them, at least, from their body language. You know they’re used to a lot of things as governors. The truth is that they didn’t want to gamble from the beginning to say that they wanted to be ministers; that’s why they contested for the Senate to ensure that they have security of office first. Now, even if they don’t get the ministerial appointments, they’re sure of their Senate seats,” he said.
Another source also said Sen. Mohammed Adamu Aliero, who is a former governor of Kebbi State, is also interested in becoming a minister in the next cabinet of President Buhari.
“Yes, I heard that Aliero, too, is interested. You know he was a minister of the FCT; so he knows what it means to be a minister. But I doubt if he’ll get it,” he said.
It was gathered that while some of the immediate past ministers believe that they would be considered because of their “outstanding performance,” others are relying on the circumstances that led to their selection
in 2015.
“Many of the ministers knew they didn’t qualify, but they had their ways. They have people, who speak on their behalf, and those people have the listening ears of the President; as such they would come back,” he added.
FORMER MINISTERS WARMING UP
Apart from the former governors, it was gathered that President Buhari may be considering some of the ministers who worked with him in the last four years.
It was gathered that the ministers, who are likely to be deployed to other different ministries have been considered to have performed above average during their service in the last four years.
According to a source, ministers in this category include the former minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola; former minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh; former minister of information and culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
When contacted on the development, the immediate past minister of information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said that the president had the discretion to take the best decision on who and who would work with him in the next for years.
“I have no information on this matter, just like you. I am a neutral person like you. The decision is in the hands of Mr. President, who will determine his team for the next four years. Let us all be patient with our President,” he said.
Our correspondent has, however, learnt that President Buhari may expand the membership of his next cabinet from 36 to 42 to accommodate more people.
