President Muhammadu Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari has handed over the task of nominating
new ministers to his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), Daily
Trust learnt from credible sources yesterday.
The party leaders will, however, carry out the assignment in
consultation with state governors, our sources said. The expansion of
the cabinet will also come with cabinet reshuffle and the splitting of
some big ministries, the sources hinted.
The president announced at the party’s NEC meeting last month that
he would expand the cabinet to accommodate wider interests and eliminate
disaffection.
At the inception of his presidency, Buhari almost single-handedly
formed his cabinet with little or no input from the party and state
governors.
This drew flak from party faithful who felt short-changed despite helping to ensure the victory of Buhari.
One of the sources said: “The president had spoken, the cabinet
would be expanded but what I would add here is that there would be
cabinet reshuffle, meaning fresh hands would come on board, this is
certain.
“And this is where the APC would come in; the governors are
already working to get good hands because the president said they would
have a say and the party would also have a say,” he said.
When asked if Buhari is only succumbing to pressure because he needs a second term, the source said: “No,
not at all; the president is extremely popular with the masses but the
fact is there is the need to fully accommodate the interest of the party
and that of the governors.
“We are operating a federal system of government and the
president cannot operate as an island, there is need for synergy and
this can only come when everyone has input in governance,” he said.
In 2015 President Buhari insisted that governors should allow him select people he would work with as ministers.
The APC was also reportedly side-lined during the selection
process; a development that rendered the ruling party very weak amidst
serious complaints from those who worked for its success.
A source familiar with the matter told Daily Trust that based on
plans, six new ministers will be introduced, while some current
ministers may be dropped and replaced.
It was gathered that “disloyal ministers and those with dual allegiance” would be shown the way out.
“Above all, there are some who did not perform and would therefore be replaced,” he said.
A source said barring change of plans, the names of the ministerial
nominees will be submitted to the Senate for confirmation next week.
The source said the list was supposed to be forwarded to the Senate
this week, but the plan was shelved due to the 2018 budget presentation
to the joint session of the National Assembly.
Another source told Daily Trust that the President is set to bring eight new ministers into the federal executive council.
“We have been told that Lagos and Kano states will get one more
minister each. The two states will have two ministers in the cabinet,”
the source, who is close to the Villa, said.
He said one slot has been allocated to each of the six geopolitical zones of the country.
“From all indications the cabinet will now be 42 as against the 36 that we have at the moment,” he said.
The source added that the nominees have submitted their Curriculum Vitae (CV) to the presidency for scrutiny.
“One of the persons being considered who is presently at the Senate
told me that he has submitted his CV. The person is from the home state
of the president,” he said.
According to him, some of the serving ministers have been pencilled down for sack.
He also said some close aides of the President may be affected.
New ministries coming
Some ministries, including Power, Works and Housing as well as the
Ministry of Transport would be unbundled to reduce pressure and workload
on the ministers manning them at present, our sources said.
It was gathered that while the ministry of power might become
independent to confront gigantic projects, two more ministries,
including one in charge of aviation and another in charge of railway
transportation might come on board.
Another source said even the ministry of agriculture might be split
to have another one that would handle dry season farming and
irrigation.
“Agriculture is one area the president would like to live a
legacy and he is consulting, seriously consulting to make the ministry
work,” the source said.
How cabinet expansion idea came about
A credible source said Buhari’s resolve to expand the cabinet is
not all about 2019; rather, he has realized the need to do so
considering the complexity of the Nigerian state and the workload that
needed to be dispensed with.
A source said, “If it is because of 2019, Buhari will not
increase the number of ministers because he is not power drunk; but you
know, the issue of capital projects are very close to the heart of the
president.
“He wants several power projects, including the gigantic
Mambilla Hydro Dam; the newly conceptualized ones and some abandoned
projects to be completed.
“And look at the various railway projects, from Lagos to Kano,
Enugu to Maiduguri and Kaduna to Kano among others, that is why there is
the need to have a new ministry,” he said.
Speaking on this, the National Secretary of the APC, Mai Mala Buni,
said Buhari is fully carrying them along adding that as leaders, they
had for long understood that the president was being circumspect in
giving out appointments because of the peculiar situation the country
found itself.
“There was no money and the country was in recession; his major
concern was to have enough money; prioritize and then swing into
action.
“And now that the recession is gone and the economy is
stabilizing, the president is not relenting; you know very well that we
passed a vote of confidence on the president during our various
meetings, including NEC and Caucus meeting; this goes to show that we
are in tune with what he is doing, Nigerians are in tune with what he is
doing and Buhari’s popularity is swelling everywhere because of his
impeccable integrity,” he said.
Buni said those saying Buhari is only reaching out now because of 2019 are not being fair.
“But the fact that Nigerians are endorsing him day-after-day
shows that he is a man to beat. We believe in his style of leadership
and he would always have the ‘right of first refusal’; I said this
severally because even in advanced democracies, incumbents have this
opportunity and we cannot be an exception; we want him to continue with
his laudable projects,” he said.
The undercurrents
Daily Trust gathered that besides improved economy, Buhari decided
to toe the party line and carry governors along because it was clear
many chieftains were not happy.
“Everyone was actually sad and many were ready to go; you know
that the APC is a combination of forces from legacy parties, including
the defunct ANPP, CPC, ANPP, part of APGA and the PDP.
“The worst scenario then was that the party (APC) and the
government were not on the same page and this aggravated the problem
with serious crisis in almost all the state chapters.
“Therefore, some leaders from the legacy parties had perfected
plan to leave the APC but suddenly the president took ill and everything
subsided because the major issue then was the survival of Nigeria.
“And thank God, when he returned, the apprehension and acrimony
came to the fore once again and in order to douse tension, the
president met with party leaders including the Caucus ahead of the NEC
meeting where everyone ventilated his anger.
“The president agreed with many of the submissions and promised to make amends with a caveat though.
He was said to have told both the party and the governors not
to nominate people with garbage on their head, people with questionable
integrity or those who stole public funds because he would never
compromise his anti-corruption fight,” he said.
Another source said one problem confronting the president and the APC is that several organs are missing.
“Their works are beyond just NEC and Caucus, the party needs to
have strong BoT, zonal executives and major committees such as
think-tank, research and documentation among others; all these must be
sorted out so that we can be truly a ruling party,” he said.
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