There is a prevailing uneasy calm in the polity over the exclusion of notable All Progressives Congress bigwigs from ministerial nominees, writes BRIGHT JACOB
President Bola Tinubu may have attracted a new bloc of new enemies who are distraught over omission of their names or names of their preferred candidates, from a ministerial appointment.
Taking cognisance of the fact that there are no permanent friends and permanent enemies in politics, this all too familiar phrase may reveal some of the president’s fair-weather friends who do not take the perceived snub in good faith.
Tinubu had sent 48 names of ministerial nominees to the Senate in two batches.
In the second list, however, a nominee from Kano State, Maryam Shetty, was replaced by Mairiga Mahmud, also from Kano State. Shetty was in the National Assembly complex when the news of her substitution was broken to her, a situation judged bizarre and considered unprecedented by analysts.
In another twist, former spokesperson of the Tinubu/Shettima campaign, Festus Keyamo’s name was included, ending days of speculation about his inclusion in Tinubu’s cabinet.
There is a prevailing uneasy calm in the polity over the exclusion of notable APC bigwigs from ministerial nominees, which raised questions about their relationship with the president.
Questions have also been raised in some quarters about the inclusion of former Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike as a ministerial nominee ahead of some “deserving” party faithful.
Wike’s prominence in Tinubu’s impending cabinet has polarised members of the APC. While some hold the view that he shouldn’t have been selected ahead of “seasoned” party faithful who stood with the president through thick and thin, others agree the former strongman of Rivers State politics was chosen in line with the president’s avowed desire to form a broad-based government.
Apart from Wike, the appointment of eight other former governors described as “recycled politicians” who have “nothing to offer Nigerians,” does not meet the approval of many of the president’s supporters.
“The Tinubu that I know will always find a way to pacify them. You cannot be loyal to this president and not be happy. These politicians must learn to take the rough with the smooth”
The former governors are David Umahi (Ebonyi), Nasir el-Rufai (Kaduna), Mohammed Badaru (Jigawa) and Bello Matawalle (Zamfara). Others are Simon Lalong (Plateau), Gboyega Oyetola (Osun), Ibrahim Gaidam (Yobe) and Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi).
Though no individual or group has come forward to rail against the president for the exclusion of any name from the ministerial nominees, political observers have predicted that the coming days will be interesting.
A Port Harcourt-based political analyst and chartered accountant, Ifeoma Ogbonna, said, “None of the big players has come out to tell us why he or she was snubbed. Soon, we will start hearing what went wrong and why they were not included. The Tinubu that I know, will always find a way to pacify them. You cannot be loyal to this president and not be happy. These politicians must learn to take the rough with the smooth. The way they castigated the president before the election, you would think this kind of politicking going on with the omitted names of people like Raji Fashola, Bayo Onanuga, and the rest, would never have happened.
“It simply tells you that a political strategist per excellence is in charge of proceedings, and that no one is doing his thinking for him,” she added.
Ogbonna cautioned members of the APC against “unsheathing their swords” to fight the president, arguing that those who were not “treated fairly” have a right to leave the party. Wike is there for a reason and those wailing wailers should desist from criticising the president for his nomination. The man told Senators during his screening that Tinubu would never regret choosing him. Let’s afford him the opportunity to prove his mettle in his new role.
“Thank goodness Keyamo was finally chosen. The presidency must have seen the level of ridicule he endured and decided to save his face. All in all, Keyamo is smart and can be a reliable asset to the president.
“But no one should unsheathe his or her sword against the president for this. And those who do that will not achieve anything and would only succeed in making themselves outcasts in the APC.
“But if they still feel they were not treated fairly, they have a right to cross to other parties,” she concluded.
A chieftain of the APC, Babatunde Ipaye, was asked whether he was satisfied with the names on the ministerial nomination list sent to the Senate for confirmation and Ipaye, who is a former Commissioner for Health in Ogun State, said the question was not relevant.
According to Ipaye, it was part of the president’s right to select his ministers.
Ipaye said, “Tell me the name that you expected and didn’t see so that I will validate for you.”
After the name of former minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, was relayed to him, Ipaye said, “Why were you expecting that his name would be among the nominees? You’re not the president. You are not the party.”
Again, prior to the emergence of the ministerial nomination list, some APC groups in the South West had expressed grievance over Tinubu’s style of headhunting. They claimed that the president was sourcing potential candidates for appointments from mainly Lagos State where he was governor from 1999 to 2007.
Presented with this allegation and whether he believed there was any form of lopsidedness in the president’s appointments, Ipaye said, “But how many positions do we have? Nigeria is just a place where we don’t allow people that have been given a mandate to function.
“We have given somebody a mandate, we should allow his government to mature,” he added.
Also asked whether he was not worried the exclusion of some names could lead to the emergence of new enemies for the president, Ipaye dismissed such fears, stating that whoever became an enemy of the government now was actually not a friend in the first place.
He added, “Asiwaju got almost 9 million votes. Can we have 9 million appointees? That you support him should not be for personal reward but for a better Nigeria. If the reward comes, good. And if it doesn’t come, you should have a sense of purpose for your life rather than waiting for something that will never come,” he concluded.
A political scientist, Matthew Idoreyen, said chances of a crisis in the APC as aftermath of the ministerial appointment should not be ruled out. In his assessment, some of those who supported the president may feel they were “not carried along in the grand scheme of things.”
Idoreyen said Tinubu knows how to reward loyalists, and because of that, those who were ignored should learn to take the rough with the smooth.
He said, “I strongly believe that seeds of discord would have been sown in some of these individuals and groups who supported Tinubu before, during and after the election but missed out on some of the juicy ministerial slots. They may feel they were not carried along in the grand scheme of things and this will cause disaffection.
Assessing the impending cabinet, Idoroyen said it was the usual potpourri of names Nigerians were used to – from technocrats to acolytes; praise singers to novices.
The El-Rufai albatross
Another source of worry among political experts is the apparent crumbling of the ministerial bid of the former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, following the withholding of his confirmation by the Senate due to security-related concerns.
Many Nigerians were not surprised when President Tinubu submitted his name to the Senate for screening as one of the ministerial nominees, given the former governor’s contributions to the success of the APC in the last presidential election.
However, no sooner did Tinubu submit El-Rufai’s name to the Senate than an old video of the former governor boasting that he would not be minister resurfaced and provoked the ire of social media users.
El-Rufai said in the old video that it would not be fair for him to return as minister at his current age.
Speaking in Hausa, El-Rufai claimed that it would not be fair for him to occupy the ministerial position he had occupied at the age of 43 years.
“You became a minister at 43 and after 20 years then you became a minister at 63? What of your children and younger brothers? Will they not become ministers? Is the position meant for you alone? I don’t like this. Let go of this topic.
“Thank God I was lucky that I became Minister of Abuja when I was 43. Next year, I will clock 63. Then I will go back. So, nobody among my younger brothers and children is capable of becoming a minister? You fail when you fail to train those to succeed you. I have trained a lot of people who are capable of succeeding in many areas,” El-Rufai added.
With El-Rufai’s name on the ministerial list, his critics said he was playing to the gallery in his characteristic style when he boasted that he would not be a minister.
Some of his critics, including a former senator from Kaduna State, Shehu Sani had described him as an opportunist, whose political career is characterised by switching loyalty and allegiance, political sycophancy and crass opportunism.
The former governor is accused by his critics of betraying all those who assisted him to attain his enviable status in his political career, including former President Olusegun Obasanjo, ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former President Goodluck Jonathan, and very lately, former President Muhammadu Buhari.
He was known to have made disparaging remarks about these past leaders and other political, as well as socio-cultural leaders in the country at one time or the other.
El-Rufai had also reportedly disparaged many reputable Northern leaders and elders in the build-up to the 2023 general election, when he described them as mere paperweights that lacked the capacity to swing votes in anyone’s favour, declaring that the 19 northern governors were the real elders of the North.
The former Kaduna State governor did not spare foreigners in his unguarded utterances as he had also threatened that foreign election observers and monitors who interfered in the 2019 general election would return to their countries in body bags, a threat, which his critics believe, earned him a visa ban in one of the advanced countries.
He also gained notoriety for making what were widely perceived as inflammatory and divisive utterances on religious, ethnic and other national issues.
His utterances and alleged controversial conduct as the then Minister of the Federal Capital Territory had also set him on a collision with the Senate, which then made unsuccessful attempts to ban him from holding public office for a number of years.
Apart from boasting that he would not be minister, having served as the FCT minister at the age of 43, the former Kaduna State governor had in the past declared that he did not believe in President Tinubu’s style of politics.
Speaking in Ikoyi, Lagos, at an event organised by the Bridge Club tagged, “An evening with His Excellency Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State,” held in May 2019, the former governor reportedly stated that he defeated and retired four political godfathers in his state, saying the feat could be replicated anywhere, including Lagos State.
The former governor was believed to be referring to Tinubu when he further explained in detail how any governorship aspirant in Lagos State could end godfatherism in the state.
Also, while speaking later at a webinar in commemoration of the 63rd birthday of the then Minister of Interior and former Governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola, in May 2020, El-Rufai had declared that Tinubu was not his man.
This, he said, was due to the differences between him and the former Lagos governor.
The webinar tagged: ‘Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola Colloquium 2020,’ with the theme, ‘Government Unusual: Innovative economic solutions to unlock mass prosperity,’ was moderated by Boason Omofaye.
While congratulating the birthday celebrant, El-Rufai had reportedly said: “I want to congratulate my brother, Ogbeni (Aregbesola), on his birthday. You know I am your man any day. I am not Asiwaju’s man and you are Asiwaju’s man, but I am your man any day. Asiwaju and I have differences but you and I have no differences.”
His critics also accused him of having a penchant to make divisive utterances on national issues.
He had provoked the ire of many Nigerians when he declared that the anti-open grazing laws enacted by the southern governors were not implementable.
The former governor was not known to have publicly condemned the activities of the rampaging herdsmen but was quick to describe the laws made to stop their atrocities as “populist legislation.”
His recent utterances on the Muslim-Muslim tickets in the 2023 presidential election were also viewed by his critics as having the capacity to potentially hurt the efforts of the Tinubu-led administration to heal the wounds of the last general election.
Immediately after the general election, El-Rufai, who addressed Muslim clerics in Hausa, narrated in a video how he agreed to reconcile with Tinubu before the general election for the sake of Islam, stressing that the Muslim dominance he established in Kaduna State could be replicated at the national level.
It was not surprising that the Middle Belt Forum had in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Isuwa Dogo, described him as a dangerous politician that must be avoided by President Tinubu.
The Chairman of the Kaduna State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Reverend Joseph Hayab, had also accused him of setting traps for President Tinubu with his statement on the replication of Islamic dominance in Nigeria.
Many analysts were not surprised that the senate withheld his confirmation as minister over security screening.
However, the lawmakers also withheld the confirmation of Stella Okotete, and Senator Abubakar Danladi from Delta and Taraba states, respectively.
But during El-Rufai’s screening by the senate, the lawmaker representing Kogi West, Senator Sunday Karimi, had stood up and told his colleagues that he had a petition written against the former governor over the issue of killings in Southern Kaduna.
The Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, however, refused to take the petition, revealing that a number of petitions were also submitted against some of the nominees.
Many analysts had thought that Akpabio shielded him from the embarrassment to ensure that he was confirmed until reports emerged that the lawmakers had withheld his confirmation.
While some sources claimed that the Senate withheld his confirmation because he was undergoing security checks, others claim that the security agencies wrote a damning report against him, requesting that his confirmation be put on hold.
A group of protesters under the aegis of Secure Nation Group had also staged a protest at the premises of the National Assembly to call on the lawmakers not to confirm him as minister.
The protesters expressed surprise that his name was listed as a ministerial nominee despite his alleged religious colouration, which the group described as dangerous to the unity of the nation.
They called on the Tinubu-led government to investigate him over alleged genocidal attacks on Shia Muslims-dominated communities in Kaduna State.
However, in what was described as his effort to save himself from shame and national embarrassment, El-Rufai held a closed-door meeting with President Tinubu at the Presidential Villa last Wednesday where he reportedly withdrew his ministerial bid to pursue further studies abroad.
El-Rufai had suffered almost a similar national embarrassment before, which forced him into exile under the administration of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua.
However, he was welcomed with open arms by the administration of former President Jonathan, and returned to national prominence by former President Buhari on whose back he rode to become governor.
Balance of forces at play
During his screening exercise, the former governor had spoken clearly when he said President Tinubu was committed to ensuring that Nigeria had a stable and reliable electricity supply, and stressed, “I will do my best.”
Political pundits said that for anyone who knows Malam Nasir el-Rufai, his best is always enough.
It was learnt that the former governor had left the country for Egypt after making his position clear to President Tinubu.
Despite his withdrawal, he was said to have met with stakeholders from the power and energy sector, where he urged them to support whoever would be the next minister of power and energy.
“Even after he made the decision to withdraw, he held meetings with local meter manufacturers and other stakeholders in the power and energy sector, where he urged them to work with whoever would come in as minister,” a source close to the former governor said.
However, fresh facts emerged Friday on why El-Rufai, known for his track record of getting the job done, would be shut down by a mere petition.
“Some very powerful Nigerians, it appears, are not comfortable with the kind of reforms El-Rufai was bringing to the power and energy sector”
Sources said the power play and gang-up against El-Rufai came from various angles, including the presidency. The petition and alleged security concerns, it was gathered, were a mere ruse cooked up by some powerful persons to frustrate the former governor’s chances.
“Some very powerful Nigerians, it appears, are not comfortable with the kind of reforms El-Rufai was bringing to the power and energy sector,” a source who asked to remain anonymous said.
“Every reform attracts some form of resistance, and so, what El-Rufai did as minister of the Federal Capital Territory was possible because he had the tenacity to do it but also because he had the support of his principal, former President Olusegun Obasanjo. People still tried to stand in the way of the reforms but because there was political will, it was done,” he said.
Other sources said that El-Rufai’s decision to withdraw his ministerial appointment was as a result of the president’s body language, which the former minister was disappointed with.
It was gathered that the former governor of Kaduna State, who returned to the country from London on Monday, had met with Tinubu on Tuesday. He was said to have led some members of the team he had assembled to the Villa on Wednesday, where they made a presentation.
However, a source close to the former governor said that El-Rufai had made his decision to withdraw his ministerial appointment even before the meeting with the president.
“What happened on Monday couldn’t have happened except there was some nod and wink from the place where the nomination came from,” said a source referring to the body language of President Tinubu.
He said for someone who never asked for an appointment, El-Rufai was unfairly treated.
“He never begged for it. In fact, he was begged to come and work for them, and when he finally agreed, they subjected him to what happened on Monday.
“Some very powerful people are not comfortable with him and the president is now part of it. Why will the Department of State Services (DSS) clear people with corruption cases; some nationally and even internationally and then fail to clear El-Rufai? It is political and it is unfortunate that the president would allow himself to be part of this,” another source said.
It was gathered that El-Rufai was actually working on his doctoral field work at the time of his nomination. Those close to him said he would carry on with his studies.
“If you nominate someone and you later change your mind, you decide what kind of things he is likely to do, you may not be able to support him, then you should invite him and say look. I think we should find a different way of working together. Maybe he should not take a full-time role,” a source said.
