Vanguardngr:
Goodbye to Abuja: Jonathan’s men on governorship prowl


By Emmanuel Aziken, Clifford Ndujihe and Charles Kumolu
IT was a moving time for President Goodluck Jonathan on
Wednesday at the Federal Executive Council, FEC meeting as
he announced the decision of some of his ministers to step
down from the cabinet.
The president, it seemed, was not willing to allow some of the
ministers go, a fact underlined by the fact that as he made the
announcement when the council reached Any Other Business,
AOB, he was himself not sure of the definite number of
ministers exiting his cabinet.
“Those that may not be with us next Wednesday are Minister
of Information, Labaran Maku; Minister of Health, Prof.
Onyebuchi Chukwu; Minister of State, Education, Mr. Nyesom
Wike; Minister of State Industry, Trade, Investment, Dr Samuel
Ortom; Minister of State Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro,
Minister of State Niger Delta Affairs, Arch. Dairus Dickson
Ishiaku and Minister of Labour and Productivity, Emeka
Wogu.”
“Assuming they change their mind, they may join us. It is only
good that we will wish them well in their future endeavours,
having served this country meritoriously,” the president
added.
Indeed, after the meeting, the president took time to again
interact with each of the outgoing ministers who had in the
past indicated to him that they were leaving. “Are you sure you
really want to go,” one of the outgoing ministers quoted the
president as asking him as he rued the exit of some of his
right hand men.
The president, it was gathered, was, however, inclined to the
fact that the seven men that had made up their minds to exit
were going as his own ambassadors to the political terrain. He
was also withdrawn to the fact that the men had to pursue
their political goals.
But there was one surprise
exclusion at the send off,
Senator Bala Mohammed, the
minister of the Federal Capital
Territory, who had been
widely expected to exit the
cabinet to contest the
governorship ticket of the
Peoples Democratic Party,
PDP in Bauchi State.
Senator Mohammed who has been in the cabinet since the
inception of the Jonathan regime in 2010, presidency sources
disclosed, was held back by a last minute urge by the First
Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan. Mrs Jonathan who has acted
as a mother figure to Senator Mohammed, was said to have
prevailed on him to remain in Abuja, as minister.

Vanguardngr:

Labaran Maku – Nasarawa
Mr. Labaran Maku, a former student union activist, had long
had his eyes on the political terrain. The former journalist
turned politician first got the bug with his appointment as
commissioner for information in the Governor Adamu
Abdullahi regime in Nasarawa State.
He was subsequently elevated to the position of deputy
governor of the state in Adamu’s second term. Maku is from
the major Eggon tribe in Nasarawa that has not been able to
produce a governor for the state. Maku has been deeply
involved in the governorship contest and is bound to face
serious obstacles from long time godfather of Nasarawa
politics, Senator Solomon Ewuga, who recently returned to the
PDP and is also inching to contest the election.

Vanguardngr:
Chief Emeka Wogu – Abia
Wogu, like Maku, has been in the
cabinet since 2010. He is aiming to
become the first man from Abia
South Senatorial District to become
governor.
His advantages in the contest
include the fact that he has been
able to reasonably discharge his
duties as a minister, and unlike
many of his rivals from the
favoured Abia South, he is able to count on his mother’s
ancestry from Arochukwu and Umuechi in Abia North.
Wogu is also considered as one of those in position to build
on whatever legacies the outgoing administration of Chief
Theodore Orji may have built given Wogu’s past relationship
with the governor. He worked under Orji as a special adviser
while the latter was chief of staff in the Chief Orji Uzor Kalu
administration.

Vanguardngr:
Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu -Ebonyi
The outgoing minister of Health is one of the surprise
elements that recently emerged as a possible governor in the
federal cabinet. He was arguably the most confident of the
seven exiting the cabinet to transform into a governor given
the full backing of the outgoing governor of the state, Chief
Martins Elechi.
Chukwu’s chances are also boosted by the
fact that the secretary to the Government of
the Federation (SGF), Senator Anyim Pius
Anyim, has decided not to enter the fray
despite earlier suggestions to that fact.
However, even with the governor’s backing,
Chukwu is bound to face stiff resistance
given the fact that the influential politicians
in Ebonyi North and Central senatorial
districts are strongly against power shift.
Even strong family and political associates of
the governor are said to be against the
governor’s choice of Chukwu and may be prepared to
sabotage the choice if given the opportunity in a free and fair
primary.

Vanguardngr:
Senator Musiliu Obanikoro – Lagos
Until Jimi Agbaje’s entry into the PDP recently, it had been
almost an open field for Obanikoro to pick the PDP ticket, who
is on a second missionary to fly the party’s flag at the polls. He
was the PDP’s standard bearer in 2007 when he gave the
Action Congress of Nigeria candidate, Babatunde Fashola a
good fight.
After the polls, he was appointed Nigeria’s
High Commissioner to Ghana. Even from
abroad he still commanded political presence
in Nigeria as his son, Babajide won the Ikoyi
Obalende Local Council Development Area
election in 2012. The LCDA is home to APC
National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu
and his wife, Senator Oluremi Tinubu.
After the council polls, the Lagos State
Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC)
returned the ACN candidate as winner but Babajide went to
the tribunal, which in its final judgement ruled that Babajide
Obanikoro of the PDP won the election by 6,780 votes as
against 6,248 polled by ACN.
Obanikoro’s ambassadorial sojourn in Ghana kept him out of
the 2011 race. Since he returned in 2012, he has been oiling
his political machine, which got a boost with his ministerial
appointment last February.
Now, he will fight for the PDP ticket with Agbaje and Dr Ade
Dosunmu (the 2011 candidate) among others and if wins, will
square up against the APC standard bearer.

Vanguardngr:
Dr Samuel Ortom –Benue
Roundly described as a party man to the core, farmer,
administrator and industrialist, Dr Samuel Ioraer Ortom,
became Minister (State) for Trade & Investment on July 4,
2011.
Considered to have a good chance of succeeding Governor
Gariel Suswam, who he played major roles in installing, Ortom
before his ministerial stint had contributed to nation building
at various levels.
In the year 2007, he also served as Benue PDP director of
organization and Suswam/Lawani Campaign Organization, a
gubernatorial electioneering effort that brought the present
government to office in Benue State.
His foray into governance started in 1991 when
he was elected as one of the youngest ever local
government chairmen in Nigeria at just 30. He
served Guma LGA of Benue State as Executive
Chairman from 1991- 1993.
To realize his ambition, he has to get the
support of Governor Suswam and top leaders of the PDP
before facing the electorate proper at the polls.

Vanguardngr:
Dairus Ishiaku –Taraba
Mr. Dairus Ishiaku who is leaving as minister of state (power)
is believed to be running as the candidate of the cabal around
Governor Danbaba Suntai.
His chances are said to be brightened by the decision of
Senator Emmanuel Bwacha to drop out of the contest
reportedly in his favour.
Ishiaku’s main contender is presently the acting
governor of the state, Alhaji Garba Umar.
Ishiaku’s chances have been boosted by the
failure of the acting governor to get control of the
PDP structure, which is in the hands of the cabal.
A court action by the acting governor to wrest
control of the PDP executive was declined by the
courts putting the cabal in good stead to fight him.

Vanguardngr:
Nyesom Wike –Rivers
The resignation of Nyesom Wike did not come as a surprise,
since he never hid his desire to succeed the incumbent
governor.
In fact, the manner he has been going about his ambition, is
generally seen to be largely responsible for the political crises
that engulfed the state in the past.
Though other aspirants have indicated interest for the plum
job, Wike is indisputably the most visible following the
controversies that has so far dogged his moves.
To boost his chances, the minister had formed
the Grassroot Democratic Initiative, GDI which
was initially believed to be an all party
structure to boost the activities of the party.
However, many other aspirants subsequently
backed away from the GDI when they
expressed fear that the GDI was framed to
achieve the gubernatorial aspirations of the
minister.
Wike is, however, challenged by the politics of
zoning in Rivers State given the fact that the
outgoing governor of the state, Rotimi Amaechi
is Ikwere, the same ethnic group where Wike belongs.

UCyril:
Onyebuchi Chukwu go go go go!!!! We re solidly behind u sir.the man that stopped ebola