Some politicians, who think that their closeness to President Bola Tinubu, will fetch them ministerial positions are in for a shock, an investigation by Sunday PUNCH has revealed.
It was gathered that the President might rely on security reports on individuals whose names were already sent to security agencies for screening ahead of the submission of the ministerial list to the Senate before Thursday, July 27.
Lawmakers in the Red Chamber were scheduled to proceed on a long recess on July 27, but the non-submission of the ministerial nominees may delay their vacation. Tinubu was sworn in on May 29, and the new law says he must present the ministerial list to the Senate for confirmation before 60 days. Today (Sunday) makes it 48 days since he assumed office.
It was gathered that the President had forwarded the names of some individuals to security agencies for clearance, but top sources said their clearance might not be an indication that they would make the list when the nominees are eventually presented to the Senate for screening.
The President was said to have been inundated with the names of politicians, associates, party bigwigs, professionals, and others, who showed interest to be part of his government.
One of the sources said, “While the President is keeping his cards to his chest, there are former governors, especially those that finished their tenure on May 29, who are showing interest in becoming ministers.
“Also, as expected, there are political bigwigs, traditional rulers, captains of industries, and those in the Diaspora. But instead of waiting to compile the list, the President was sending them to the security agencies piecemeal for clearance.
That was why the Presidency was correct when it said there was no ministerial list anywhere.”
Recall that the presidential spokesman, Mr Dele Alake, recently said Tinubu’s ministerial list was not ready.
“There is no iota of truth in all of those things. When the President is good and ready, you will be the first to know his intentions,” Alake said.
The source said that rather than reject nominations of individuals and some politicians, Tinubu might rely on the outcome of the security screening, which he explained had reached an advanced stage.
The source added, “Corrupt politicians, indicted individuals and others who are showing eagerness to be part of this government will be shocked when they see the security reports on them.
“So, the President, instead of outright rejection, will use the reports to check them. And if they are adamant on serving, I think there are senators from such individuals’ states that will raise objections to their clearance on the floor of the Senate.”
Another source specifically mentioned two former governors accused of corruption as among those that might be shocked that they would not make the list despite their perceived contribution to the electoral victory of the President.
Just wait. Some will be shocked, others will want to constitute themselves into opposition because neither them nor their nominees will be on the list,” the source added.
It was also gathered that the President was also considering rehabilitating a former governor of Lagos State, Akinwumi Ambode, to return him to political relevance in the state.
Ambode, who succeeded Babatunde Fashola as the governor of Lagos State, was denied a second term by political leaders in the state.
He was replaced by Babatunde Sanwo-Olu. Since he left office, Ambode had remained silent until the emergence of Tinubu, who recently met with him, Fashola, and Sanwo-Olu recently in Lagos.
Ambode also visited the President in Abuja on Thursday.
A source privy to the political calculations in the state and the Villa, said, “There are possibilities that the former governor will get a position either in the Presidency or in the state if permutations work well in his favour.”
Part of the permutations, it was gathered, was the possibility of making the senator representing Lagos East Senatorial District, Tokunbo Abiru, a minister while Ambode would replace him in the Senate.
It was also learnt that Wale Edun, who has been named as the Special Adviser to the President on Monetary Policies, might become a minister representing Ogun State.
“Edun’s case was one of the issues the President discussed with Ogun State traditional rulers when he visited them a few weeks ago,” another source confided in Sunday PUNCH.
Edun was said to be the preferred candidate of Tinubu as a minister under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari but he was denied the ticket.
APGA, NNPP ready to serve
Following the recent approach to the 36 states governors by President Bola Tinubu to nominate competent persons from their folds to serve on boards of federal parastatals, the All Progressives Grand Alliance and the New Nigeria People’s Party have indicated their readiness to release their members if they are approached to do so.
This is even as the opposition parties also pledged their readiness to bless any of their members who may be nominated by the President to serve as ministers.
Speaking exclusively with Sunday PUNCH, an APGA chieftain and representative of the Abia South Senatorial District, Enyinnaya Abaribe, said the party was ready to serve in a government of national unity should the proposal come to fruition.
If the government constitutes a national unity cabinet and invites APGA, we will probably accept,” he said.
Also speaking, the immediate past National Chairman of APGA, Victor Oye, told one of our correspondents that “since Nigeria belongs to all, the party is ready to work with the Tinubu government,” adding, however, that it was the governors that often do nominations on behalf of the party.
Asked if APGA was open to allowing its members to serve on the boards of government parastatals as well as ministers, Oye responded in the affirmative, saying, “Why not? Does Nigeria not belong to all of us? Usually, it is the prerogative of the governors to do these nominations.”
On his part, the National Publicity Secretary of the NNPP, Agbo Major, argued that with the elections over, the party was ready to team up with Tinubu to move the nation forward.
He said, “Elections are over, but we have a country to guard jealously. We need to move on. We have no problem serving in this government because we must work in the overall interest of Nigeria.
“This country must flourish. The courts are handling the cases arising from the elections, but there is a government in place rightly or wrongly.
“If our members are nominated to serve on the boards of government agencies or as ministers, we are not going there to serve any political party but Nigeria. We have no reservations whatsoever in serving at whatever capacity. What is important is how our democracy can make progress.”
Efforts to get the position of the Peoples Democratic Party were not successful as of the time of filing this report as calls and messages to the National Publicity Secretary and Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba and Ibrahim Abdullahi, respectively, were not acknowledged.
The National Chairman of the APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, had on Monday expressed the hope that Tinubu would patronise the party both at the state and national levels for appointments.
Adamu’s position was in reaction to speculations that the President would appoint more technocrats than politicians into his cabinet and other positions.
Speaking during a meeting of the National Working Committee with the APC state chairmen at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja, Adamu said the Tinubu administration was currently trying to form the government, adding that the next two months would witness appointments of persons into various vacancies.
He stated, “Every APC member has an inherent right to hope to get some patronage. And we cannot all get one here. We cannot all be ministers of the government. We cannot all end up as board members, directors of parastatals and MDAs across the country.
“It is our hope and prayer that Mr President will come along with us in that regard and strengthen the relationship of the party in the states and at the national level, and that members will enjoy some level of patronage in the new government. Those are the key issues that we hope to share with you during this meeting.
“The President has just started. And he is doing extensive consultation before coming up with his nominees for ministers. The nomination of the ministers will come first. They will go through their screening until they are pronounced after they have been submitted by Mr President. And Mr President will formally appoint his ministers and swear them in.
Only after doing that will he disclose each of them to the country to know which minister is going to which ministry and how many ministries we are going to have. After that is done, the ministers will assume office and make a comprehensive report starting from all the ministries and departments and agencies under them before we are going to know what vacancies exist for chief executives, directors and part-time directors. These are some of the exercises that will take place in the next two months. It cannot happen by next week, but certainly, that is what we should be expecting.”
Credit: Punch
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