the integrity test had been replaced by President Muhammadu Buhari
It was learnt that Buhari had settled for former Rivers State Governor, Mr.
Rotimi Amaechi, as the nominee from the state; notwithstanding the
opposition against his candidacy from top officials of the PDP
government in the state.
Amaechi, Fashola and Kayode Fayemi were earlier reported to have failed
the DSS screening test.
The former former Rivers State governors who was the Director-General of
the APC Presidential Campaign Council, lost out in the bid for the
Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).
One of the sources also said a former Governor of old Abia State, Dr.
Ogbannaya Onu, had been asked to choose between being a minister and
getting an ambassadorial posting. The source said Onu, who also lost out
in the SGF race, had settled for the Ebonyi ministerial slot. Former
presidential candidate and renowned economist, Prof. Pat Utomi, is the
likely nominee of Delta State.
A group of professionals of which Vice-President Osinbajo belongs, is
rooting for Utomi. Former Governor of Kano State and now a senator, Dr.
Rabiu Kwankwaso, is likely going to make the ministerial list. Kwankwaso,
who was Minister of Defence in the Obasanjo administration, may retain
the position in the Buhari cabinet.
Although, a former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Abdurahman Dambazzau,
who is being touted as the next Minister of Defence, has been screened,
one of the sources said he might be given another portfolio.
“The president is considering having a civilian as his Minister of Defence.
The basis for this is that there is always a friction between the service
chiefs and the minister of defence with a military background. Don’t forget
that the president is a retired general. So, if Kwankwaso makes it to the
cabinet, he may end up as defence minister having held the portfolio
before,” the source said.
In Edo State, either former Executive Chairman, the Federal Inland
Revenue Service (FIRS), Mrs. Ifueko Omogui-Okauru or erstwhile Special
Adviser to Obasanjo on Programme and Policy Monitoring, Prof. Julius
Ihonvbere, may get the state’s slot. Omogui-Okauru, who stepped down
as FIRS chairman in April 2012, was recently appointed by the Kaduna
State Governor, Mallam Nasir El- Rufai, to head the Kaduna State Tax
Reform Committee. Ihonvbere is the Secretary to the Edo State
Government (SSG) and believed to be the nominee of Governor Adams
Oshiomhole.
New Telegraph learnt that the only name submitted for consideration as
minister for Kwara State is that of Mr. Bolaji Abdullahi, an ally of the
Senate President Bukola Saraki. Abdullahi served as Minister of Sports in
the Goodluck Jonathan administration and was the Deputy Director,
Directorate of Policy and Strategy of the APC Presidential Campaign
Organisation. It is not clear if President Buhari will accept Abdullahi’s
candidacy. If he does, then the National Publicity Secretary of the APC,
Alhaji Lai Mohammed, may end up as Special Adviser to the President on
Aviation.
But if the president rejects Abdullahi, then a technocrat or Mohammed
may fill the Kwara ministerial slot.
In Ekiti, the hope of former Governors Niyi Adebayo, Segun Oni and
Kayode Fayemi was dashed by the choice of human rights activist, Mr.
Femi Falana (SAN). Vice-President Osinbajo was said to have, in
conjunction with Tinubu, pushed for his candidacy as the Attorney General
of the Federation and Minister of Justice. It was learnt that General
Adeyinka Adebayo (rtd) lobbied retired Generals to have his son, Niyi, as
Ekiti nominee.
New Telegraph reliably learnt that the APC South- West leaders have
agreed that the ambassadorial slot for Ekiti is reserved for Fayemi.
In Adamawa, Boss Gida Mustapha, a lawyer, has been tipped by the
president as minister. Mustapha lost the APC governorship ticket to
Senator Bindow Jibrilla, now governor.
He was a member of the Ahmed Joda-led transition committee set up by
the president. He is a former Deputy National Chairman of the defunct
Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). Alhaji Abubakar Malami (SAN), a
member of the Ahmed Joda transition committee, has been tapped for
the Kebbi ministerial slot. He was with Buhari in the Congress for
Progressive Change (CPC) where he served as National Legal Adviser.
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