₦airaland Forum

…Akpabio, Ita Enang in contention as Udoma wants to quit public service

Soni Daniel, Northern Region Editor

With barely a month to the end of the current administration, Presidency Muhammadu Buhari appears to be in a dilemma on who to fill the ministerial slot meant for Akwa Ibom State.

Buhari, Vanguard learnt, is favourably disposed to retaining the current Minister of Budget and National Planning and son of Nigerian eminent jurist, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, but the prominent lawyer and bureaucrat is said to have pleaded to be allowed to quit public service after many years of outing.

It was gathered that Buhari had taken more than a passing interest in Udoma since he successfully deployed his business and financial acumen in bailing Nigeria out of recession last year and enabled the country to experience some level of growth and economic stability, as confirmed by international rating agencies.

Buhari is also said to have been impressed by the minister’s level-headedness and for serving as a bridge-builder between the federal and Akwa Ibom State government since coming on board and helping to create stability and harmony among the two tiers of government. A presidential source said however that despite Buhari’s admiration of Udoma’s towering leadership and administrative credentials, the minister has made it clear that he would serve only one term and retire from public service, having put in many years serving Nigeria and its people in different spheres.

The decision by Udoma not to serve again in the new cabinet leaves Buhari with the option of choosing his cabinet member from Akwa Ibom State from the duo of former Governor Godswill Akpabio and Senator Ita Enang, who currently serves as Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate).

Although Akpabio would eminently fit the bill because of his position as a former governor and the strong support he mobilised for the All Progressives Congress, which enabled the party to score over 40 per cent in the just concluded presidential election in the state.

However, the state government, which is supposed to recommend a ministerial candidate to the Presidency, is said to be frontally opposed to the candidature of the former governor and would not do so under any condition.

Top backers of Governor Emmanuel Udom and the Peoples Democratic Party in Uyo have made it clear that Akpabio should not be given such top position so soon having embarrassed them by defecting from their fold and joining forces with the opposition to work against them. A power broker in the state told Vanguard that they would rather stay without a minister than recommending Akpabio to become one, a post that would automatically elevate him to the APC political leader in the state.

The choice of Ita Enang, which appears to be more appealing to the PDP and APC folds in the state, however hangs in the balance since some of the political leaders feel that he has been in government since 1999, first, as member of the House of Representatives for 12 years and later as Senator for four years before being appointed presidential aide in 2015 by Buhari.

Many of the PDP leaders who work with Governor Udom are said to prefer Mr Enang, a lawyer and long-standing PDP member before 2015, to Akpabio apparently because of his calm political and conciliatory disposition.

Many of those who are opposed to Akpabio, argued that although Enang also defected to the APC in 2015, he did not do anything to cause disaffection between the state and the federal government on one hand and between his former party and the new one. As at last night, there was no indication that the uncertainty over the ministerial slot for the state had been settled and there were indications that fresh names might be considered by the Presidency.

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/04/new-cabinet-buhari-in-dilemma-over-akwa-iboms-slot/

Good

So it is the state government that recommends? Why did Wike recommend Amaechi in 2015?

Nsima Ekere and Obong Umana Umana should be considered over Akpabio. The duo have been in APC long before Akpabio and without them, there'd be nothing like APC in Always Ibom.


If buhari must make Akpabio a minister, then I suggest he creates a ministry of 404 and allow Akpabio head it.

nelronaldo:
So it is the state government that recommends? Why did Wike recommend Amaechi in 2015?

Wike and Amaechi share something in common that we can't see with a common eye.

that is where I stop reading the useless news.

nelronaldo:
So it is the state government that recommends? Why did Wike recommend Amaechi in 2015?

nelronaldo:
So it is the state government that recommends? Why did Wike recommend Amaechi in 2015?

Don't mind the ignorance of vanguard reporters.

life2017:
Don't mind the ignorance of vanguard reporters.

Yes, the state government recommends. It's a known fact in Nigerian politics. However, it is not compulsory for the president to go by the state government's recommendation.

Oga o

GreyLaw:
Yes, the state government recommends. It's a known fact in Nigerian politics. However, it is not compulsory for the president to go by the state government's recommendation.

Shut up.how can a state pdp government recommend for buhari and apc ? Are you okay ?

Vanguard is not a credible source of news....we know whose tunes they dance to.

garfield1:
Shut up.how can a state pdp government recommend for buhari and apc ? Are you okay ?

Some of you on NL just make comments and throw insults without any recourse to modesty, and without even knowing whom you are addressing. I'm not surprised. Educated people do not throw insults about.

Now, governance is not about party, it's about caring for the masses. Please ask around and you'll find out that state governments recommend people for slot of minister. Whether the president follows such recommendation or not is a different issue entirely.

GreyLaw:
Some of you on NL just make comments and throw insults without any recourse to modesty, and without even knowing whom you are addressing. I'm not surprised. Educated people do not throw insults about.

Now, governance is not about party, it's about caring for the masses. Please ask around and you'll find out that state governments recommend people for slot of minister. Whether the president follows such recommendation or not is a different issue entirely.

In Nigeria,its about party sir and wike or any pdp governor cannot recommend for buhari

thought Udoma is from Cross River

nelronaldo:
So it is the state government that recommends? Why did Wike recommend Amaechi in 2015?

Wike didn't recommend Amaechi, APC in Rivers State recommended him for the position. Wike fought to stop it but didn't succeed.
If the state is in the same party with the federal government, then the governor will recommend a candidate for the ministerial position, otherwise the state chapter of the party in Abuja will recommend candidates for that.
That is what is happening, I don't know if it is constitutional or not.

nelronaldo:
So it is the state government that recommends? Why did Wike recommend Amaechi in 2015?

I thought I was the only one that saw that very useless lie.
Journalists in Nigeria are so useless and intellectually lazy these days.

Kwamecron:
Good

Junk news from another lost mind. Can u tell the world, who recommended Udoma Udo Udoma to the President in 2015 to be appointed a Federal Minister? Assuming, though not conceding to this ur trash, for lacking in substance, why on earth, should Udom ever contemplate recommending Akpabio for any appointment by the President? Udom this, Udom that, can't u let this man be?.

Ecstasy154:
…Akpabio, Ita Enang in contention as Udoma wants to quit public service

Soni Daniel, Northern Region Editor

With barely a month to the end of the current administration, Presidency Muhammadu Buhari appears to be in a dilemma on who to fill the ministerial slot meant for Akwa Ibom State.

Buhari, Vanguard learnt, is favourably disposed to retaining the current Minister of Budget and National Planning and son of Nigerian eminent jurist, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, but the prominent lawyer and bureaucrat is said to have pleaded to be allowed to quit public service after many years of outing.

It was gathered that Buhari had taken more than a passing interest in Udoma since he successfully deployed his business and financial acumen in bailing Nigeria out of recession last year and enabled the country to experience some level of growth and economic stability, as confirmed by international rating agencies.

Buhari is also said to have been impressed by the minister’s level-headedness and for serving as a bridge-builder between the federal and Akwa Ibom State government since coming on board and helping to create stability and harmony among the two tiers of government. A presidential source said however that despite Buhari’s admiration of Udoma’s towering leadership and administrative credentials, the minister has made it clear that he would serve only one term and retire from public service, having put in many years serving Nigeria and its people in different spheres.

The decision by Udoma not to serve again in the new cabinet leaves Buhari with the option of choosing his cabinet member from Akwa Ibom State from the duo of former Governor Godswill Akpabio and Senator Ita Enang, who currently serves as Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate).

Although Akpabio would eminently fit the bill because of his position as a former governor and the strong support he mobilised for the All Progressives Congress, which enabled the party to score over 40 per cent in the just concluded presidential election in the state.

However, the state government, which is supposed to recommend a ministerial candidate to the Presidency, is said to be frontally opposed to the candidature of the former governor and would not do so under any condition.

Top backers of Governor Emmanuel Udom and the Peoples Democratic Party in Uyo have made it clear that Akpabio should not be given such top position so soon having embarrassed them by defecting from their fold and joining forces with the opposition to work against them. A power broker in the state told Vanguard that they would rather stay without a minister than recommending Akpabio to become one, a post that would automatically elevate him to the APC political leader in the state.

The choice of Ita Enang, which appears to be more appealing to the PDP and APC folds in the state, however hangs in the balance since some of the political leaders feel that he has been in government since 1999, first, as member of the House of Representatives for 12 years and later as Senator for four years before being appointed presidential aide in 2015 by Buhari.

Many of the PDP leaders who work with Governor Udom are said to prefer Mr Enang, a lawyer and long-standing PDP member before 2015, to Akpabio apparently because of his calm political and conciliatory disposition.

Many of those who are opposed to Akpabio, argued that although Enang also defected to the APC in 2015, he did not do anything to cause disaffection between the state and the federal government on one hand and between his former party and the new one. As at last night, there was no indication that the uncertainty over the ministerial slot for the state had been settled and there were indications that fresh names might be considered by the Presidency.

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/04/new-cabinet-buhari-in-dilemma-over-akwa-iboms-slot/

Another junk news from another lost mind. Can u tell the world who recommended Udoma Udo Udoma to the President in 2015 to be appointed a Federal Minister? Assuming, though not conceding to this ur unfounded trash, for lacking in substance, why on mother earth should made, Mr.Udom Emmanuel, to ever contemplate recommending or nominating Akpabio to the President for any appointment? Can't u people just let this Udom of a man to be.

onamch:
Wike didn't recommend Amaechi, APC in Rivers State recommended him for the position. Wike fought to stop it but didn't succeed.
If the state is in the same party with the federal government, then the governor will recommend a candidate for the ministerial position, otherwise the state chapter of the party in Abuja will recommend candidates for that.
That is what is happening, I don't know if it is constitutional or not.

I agree with this. This is the practice that I know. The reason the governor is allowed to recommend if it is the same part with the federal government is because the governor is the head of the state chapter of the party.

Meaning it is Akwa Ibom APC that would recommend Akpabio and not Akwa Ibom government