Barring any last minute changes, there are strong indications that five ex-governors will feature in the President Bola Tinubu’s Ministerial list of nominees to be sent to the Senate for approval between now and next week.
The President has less than 20 days left out of the 60 allowed by the Constitution for him to send his list of Ministers to the Senate for screening.
Guardian reports that the list described as unusual, already dubbed the ‘cabinet of (political) unity’, will have nominees drawn from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and many technocrats.
It was further gathered that the cabinet will be as bloated as what former President Muhammadu Buhari had, but with major realignments in portfolios.
It was learnt that a 42-member cabinet is being expected because “each state is constitutionally mandated to have a representative at the cabinet and as it was done by the last administration, each of the six geological zones will also have members in the unity government.”
As gathered, the new cabinet will consist of 42 Ministers and 20 Special Advisers. Some of the remarkable difference from the last administration would be the likely abrogation of Ministers of State. Also, SAs will contribute to discussions at the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meetings.
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Some of the ministries to be touched include Works and Housing, Agriculture and Rural Development, Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, and Youths and Sports.
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Some of the governors that might have been penciled down to be part of the final list to be submitted to the senate included former Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, especially for his role in the emergence of Tajudeen Abbas as the Speaker House of Representative. Besides, the report of the committee set up by the APC in 2018 on true federalism, which he headed, is said to be one of the major reasons he is being rooted for by Tinubu’s camp.
Other former Governors include; Abdulahi Ganduje (Kano), Abubakar Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi), Muhammad Badaru Abubakar (Jigawa) and Nyesom Wike (Rivers).
It was also gathered that former Ogun State Governor, Senator Gbenga Daniel is being favoured ahead of Senator Ibikunle Amosun for the ministerial list, while former Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, is also being considered for a Foreign Affairs Minister role. He had served in the last administration as Minister of Mines and Steel.
Those who made the proposed list of 20 expected to serve as Senior Special Assistants (SSAs), Special Assistants (SAs) and Personal Assistants (PAs) are: Dr Adekunle Tinubu – Personal Physician; Tunde Rahman – SSAP (Media); Damilotun Aderemi – SSAP (Private Secretary); Ibrahim Masari – SSAP (Political Matters); Toyin Subair – SSAP (Domestic); Abdulaziz Abdulaziz – SSAP (Print Media); Otega Ogara – SSAP (Digital/New); Demola Oshodi – SSAP (Protocol); Tope Ajayi – SSAP (Media & Public) and Yetunde Sekoni – SSAP.
Others are Motunrayo Jinadu – SSAP; Segun Dada – SAP (Social Media); Paul Adekanye – SAP (Logistics); Friday Soton – SAP (Housekeeping); Mrs Shitta-Bey Akande – SAP (Catering); Nosa Asemota – SAP (Visual Communication) Personal Photographer; Kamal Yusuf – PA (Special Duties); Wale Fadairo – PA (General Duties); Sunday Moses – PA (Videography); and Taiwo Okonlawon – PA (State Photographer).
According to a document sighted at the weekend, the proposed nominees await President Tinubu’s formal approval before it is officially announced. Meanwhile, some of the nominees have actually started working in the assigned roles.
However, state chapters and national secretariat of the APC have been sidelined in the process of recommending the ministerial nominees as “the Governors are in charge and states where opposition parties occupy the seat of government, party leaders make recommendations, that is why some states have multiple nominees,” it said.
In Lagos, which is the President’s forte, Senator Tokunbo Abiru, a banker, is being primed to emerge as the new Finance Minister. His switch over from the Senate, where he currently represents Lagos East senatorial district, is to pave way for the return of former Lagos Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, into the President’s political family.
In Delta State, the APC is uncertain who will be appointed minister following scheming by the different interest groups and camps within the party.
A party source said the party has been polarised into two camps – one led by former deputy senate president, Ovie Omo-Agege, and another spearheaded by Lauretta Onochie and Dr Cairo Ojougboh, who was reportedly expelled from the party.
According to a reliable source: “From the top, the party may decide to pick Festus Keyamo, because he was presidential campaign spokesman and has been assisting the President to defend his case at the tribunal.”
But it was also gathered that another bloc is rooting for Otega Emerhor, with the support of Omo-Agege, since he (Omo-Agege) is still fighting to ‘reclaim’ his governorship mandate at the election tribunal.
In Cross River State, there were speculations that some party bigwigs have been lobbying Aso Rock for ministerial positions.
Sources in Calabar hinted that interested persons, including the immediate past Governor, Ben Ayade; former senate leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba; APC National Women Leader, who was a former commissioner for Health in the state, Dr Betta Edu; a governorship aspirant in this year’s elections, Senator John Owan Enoh; former party chairman and ambassador, Soni Abang; immediate past Board chairman of Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) and one-time commissioner for Information, Akin Rocket, and renowned businessman and also a governorship aspirant, Ben Akak, might be angling to be made minister.
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