[color=#990000][/color][font=Lucida Sans Unicode][/font][b][/b]NOMINEES FROM THE SOUTH-WEST •Dr Kayode Fayemi – Ekiti
•Babatunde Fashola – Lagos
•Mrs Kemi Adeosun – Ogun
•Mr Adebayo Shittu – Oyo
•Prof Isaac Adewole – Osun
•Prof Omoyele Daramola – Ondo The South West is the only group, who
because they’re looking for offices in
President Buhari’s government, are
resorting to what Yoruba people call;
“If you can catch him kill him; if you
cannot get to kill him, demobilise him.” We are at each other’s jugular raising
irrelevances about ourselves,
destroying ourselves before President
Buhari. Have you heard such about
other people in other parts of the
country? It is unfortunate, we should go back to Ogunde’s “Yoruba ronu.”
Let’s put our thinking caps on. Enough
of self destruction. — Chief Olusegun Osoba By Dapo Akinrefon AFTER four months of waiting,
President Muhammadu Buhari has
finally released the names of
ministerial nominees expected to form
the Federal Executive Council, FEC. Before the announcement of the
nominees, expectations were high
that the successful candidates would
assist Buhari in actualising the
‘CHANGE’ promised by the All
Progressives Congress, APC. With the backing of the 1999
Constitution, the president has
ensured that the federal character
principle is followed to the letter with
each state of the federation being
represented at FEC. The Nigerian Constitution requires at
least one minister to be named from
each of the 36 states of the federation. The eventual list, no doubt, was
greeted with mixed reactions with
Nigerians having their reservations. Some members the APC are also not
comfortable, with murmurings and
grumblings trailing the nominees. Members of the APC in the South-West
have also expressed their misgivings
over the list as some leaders,
reportedly are at loggerheads over the
successful candidates that made the
list. Interestingly, the South-West parades
men and women, who have
distinguished themselves in their
various fields of expertise. Perhaps, the successful nominees
were picked based on the profound
changes they have effected in various
capacities. The nominees from the South-West are
Kayode Fayemi, former governor of
Ekiti State; former governor of Lagos
State, Babatunde Fashola; a former
commissioner for finance in Ogun
State, Kemi Adeosun; former governorship candidate of CPC in Oyo
state, Adebayo Shittu. Also from the zone, are a former Vice
Chancellor of the University of Ibadan,
Professor Isaac Adewole from Osun
State and a professor of sociology,
Professor Claudius Omoyele Daramola
from Ondo State. Former govs Of all the nominees, the South-West
parades two former governors, who
would work closely with the
president. Messrs Fashola and Fayemi, alongside
other nominees from the zone, have
been known to display a high level of
dexterity in their previous respective
capacities. Controversy trailing the list There is no doubt that divergent views
trailed the list submitted by President
Buhari in some states within the zone. Shittu enjoys support of Oke Ogun In Oyo State, for instance, the debate
over the choice of Adebayo Shittu
continues to garner heat. It was gathered that Shittu, a
governorship candidate of the defunct
CPC in Oyo State, was not the choice of
Governor Abiola Ajimobi. From the onset, Gov. Ajimobi had
opposed Shittu’s nomination. Perhaps sensing the nudge to throw
his weight behind Shittu’s nomination,
the governor said he has forgiven him. Ajimobi said he would never oppose
Shittu’s nomination since it was the
choice of the president. “It is the president’s prerogative to
select or nominate his ministers but
the practice has always been in
consultation with the state,” he said. He, however, said Buhari was the
leader of the party and had told
members to allow him select those
who would work with him. “Shittu himself has come to me and
has apologised. He knew he was
always against me and the party. He
campaigned against us. To forgive is
divine. If we all pray to God to forgive
us our sins, then we should learn to forgive others. A leader must learn to
accommodate and forgive. I have
forgiven him,” he said. The legal practitioner is, however,
said to enjoy support from Oke-Ogun,
his hometown. The Oyo State Coalition group
reminded the Senate of many years of
neglect and marginalization that the
zone had suffered at the hands of
successive governments in the state. The group comprises trade groups,
professionals, artisans, the elderly and
the youths. Described as a grassroot politician,
Shittu is said to be a team player with
an ardent desire to bring rapid
development to the community. Fayose rallies NASS support for Fayemi During the June 21 governorship
election in Ekiti State, Governor
Ayodele Fayose trounced his
predecessor, Dr Kayode Fayemi. Remarkably, Fayemi conceded defeat
after the election as a means of
dousing the already tensed
atmosphere in the state. Perhaps as pay back time, Fayose has
directed lawmakers representing the
state at the National Assembly to
ensure Fayemi has a hitch-free
screening by the Senate. No hassle for Adeosun in Ogun In Ogun State, the nomination of Mrs.
Kemi Adeosun did not come as a
surprise as was expected. Adeosun’s nomination was as a result
of the closeness of Governor Ibikunle
Amosun and the president, both of
whom were in the defunct All Nigeria’s
Peoples Party, ANPP. As a matter of fact, Adeosun’s name
was penciled down to return as
commissioner, having served as the
immediate past Commissioner for
Finance in Ogun State. Also, the Ogun Grassroots
Development Awareness Forum,
described her as an innovation-driven
go getter that Nigeria needs in her
march to a new culture of governance
that is based on integrity and performance. Aregbesola at a loss? The Osun State governor, Ogbeni Rauf
Aregbesola and a leader of the party,
were reported to be at each other’s
throats over the nomination and
submission of ministerial candidates
for the state. Though the state chapter of the APC
has refuted the claims, but the two
leaders struggled to ensure their
nominees made the list. The name of a former governor of the
state, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola was
touted to be on the list but eventually,
Professor Adewole ended up taking
the Osun State slot. Ondo APC in waiting game Prior the announcement of the second
batch of the ministerial nominees, APC
leaders in Ondo State, were sharply
divided over who would represent the
state at the FEC. In fact, an atmosphere of anxiety and
tension pervaded the state chapter of
the party over its non inclusion in the
first list forwarded to the Senate by the
President. Tongues were wagging by party
loyalists as to why none of the over
15 contenders in the state made the
first batch. The three nominees said to be in the
fore front include the former
governorship candidate of the defunct
Action Congress of Nigeria ACN in the
state, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN),
the Vice Chairman of the APC in the South West, Chief Pius Akinyelure, and
a female politician from Ose Local
Council of the state, Mrs Oredola. At the end of the day, the president
settled for a sociologist, Professor
Daramola to fill the Ondo State slot. For Fashola, its transformation all the
way The nomination of former governor of
Lagos State, Mr Fashola did not come
easy. Resistance from his home state was
put up to ensure his name was
dropped by President Buhari. In fact, an allegation of corruption and
financial impropriety was leveled
against him in a quest to cast him in a
bad light. A petition, purportedly aimed at
smearing the former governor’s name
was sent to the president. However, at the end of the day, the
president turned deaf ears to all the
allegations and sent his name to the
Senate for screening. There is no gainsaying the fact that
Fashola provided a developmental
template which was adopted by many
states across the federation. During his eight year tenure, Fashola
approached his work as Lagos State
governor with unusual fervor; he felt
challenged and inspired by the
examples of global transformational
leaders. It is expected that his input would
have far reaching impact in the Buhari
administration.

Okiez