• Several jostle for cabinet posts

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

As the jostling for cabinet posts in President
Muhammadu Buhari’s administration intensifies,
there are indications that the immediate past
Governor of Lagos State, Babatude Fashola;
former Head of Service, Mr. Steve Oronsaye; a
former Chief of Army Staff, Lt-General
Abdulrahman Dambazzau; a former Managing
Director of New Nigerian Newspapers, Adamu
Adamu, and a former Military Administrator of
Kaduna State, Col. Hammed Ali, may have been
shortlisted for positions in the administration.
Specifically, Dambazzau is being considered for
the post of National Security Adviser (NSA) while
Fashola, Oronsaye and Ali are being considered
for the position of Chief of Staff to the president.


Adamu, on the other hand, may be made the
Principal Secretary to the president. Adamu is also
being considered for the post of Chairman of the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC), but has expressed reservations about
heading the anti-corruption agency.


A frontline contender for the post of Chief of Staff
is Fashola, whom Buhari personally likes and has
a lot of confidence in. The president has already
shown his confidence in Fashola by asking him to
chair a committee he empanelled to review the
800-page report submitted by the Ahmed Joda-
led Transition Committee.


Oronsaye, however, was recommended to Buhari
by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Obasanjo, according to presidency sources, is
leaning towards Oronsaye because of his wealth
of experience in the public sector and institutional
memory, and is deemed a steady hand.


For the post of Secretary to the Government of
the Federation (SGF), Oronsaye, who is from the
South-south zone is also a top contender, while
former Rivers State Governor Chibuike Amaechi
and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress
(APC), Chief Ogbonnaya Onu, are also up for
consideration.


Amaechi, who is also from the South-south, said
the presidency source, is viewed as a taskmaster
but not a bureaucrat, while Onu from the South-
east is well liked because of his calmness and
loyalty. However, the emergence of Senator Ike
Ekweremadu as the Deputy Senate President may
have dimmed his chances.


The post of SGF was initially zoned to the South-
east by the ruling party, but may now be rezoned
to the South-south following the outcome of the
leadership elections in the National Assembly.


Other than positions in the presidency, several
other persons may have been identified as
possible ministers in Buhari’s cabinet.


Names that have been mooted include Dr. Doyin
Salami, Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru and Wale Edu for
the post of Finance Minister, while Lai
Mohammed, Sam Nda-Isaiah and Dele Alake are
keen on being appointed Information Minister.


Other names being bandied include former Ekiti
State Governor Kayode Fayemi, former Education
Minister Oby Ezekwesili, and pastor of the Latter
Rain Assembly, Mr. Tunde Bakare.


It was also revealed by APC sources on Monday
that no fewer than seven members of the
National Working Committee (NWC) of the party
have been relentlessly lobbying the presidency to
be appointed as ministers in the federal cabinet.


The NWC members who played major roles
during the campaigns, especially the organisation
of presidential rallies at the zonal levels, believe
that their closeness to Buhari would be an added
advantage to enable them secure the job.


According to party sources, some of these NWC
members seeking ministerial positions include the
National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Mohammed,
who hails from Kwrara State; a former governor
of Ekiti State and Deputy National Chairman
(South) Segun Oni; National Vice-Chairman
(North-east), Mr. David B. Lawal from Adamawa;
National Youth Leader, Alhaji Dasuki Jalo from
Gombe; National Women Leader, Alhaja Ramatu
Tijani from Kogi State; and Emmanuel Eneukwu
from Enugu State.


Although the affected national officers have
refused to speak openly about their ambitions, a
source said the National Chairman of the party,
Chief John Oyegun, was aware but has cautioned
against the lobby for ministerial positions.


THISDAY gathered that part of the reason Buhari
rejected ministerial nominees submitted by the
state chapters of the APC was because the list was
said to have been dominated by the names of the
party’s national officers.


“When the NWC members met with Buhari on the
issue of ministerial appointments, though the
national chairman refused to tender the request
of some of his colleagues who want to be made
ministers, the favour he asked of him (Buhari) was
for the NWC to be carried along in the nomination
process.


“But it seems President Buhari knew what was on
the card and he told the party leaders right there
and then not to contemplate becoming part of his
cabinet. He told them to stay where they are and
build a strong party,” a party source volunteered.

OREMUSSANCTUS:
Buhari shld produce dis list, and stop all dis speculations.... Its getting out of hand

spenca:

Someone is expectant, you shouldn't be mate