Habeeb I. Pindiga
31 October 2008
Former Chief of Army Staff retired General Alwali Kazir, three former state governors as well as the wife of another former governor may have been shortlisted for appointment to replace some of the 20 ministers dropped by President Umaru Yar'adua in a massive cabinet shake-up on Wednesday, Daily Trust gathered in Abuja yesterday.
Kazir, who was army chief during the regime of the late General Sani Abacha, is believed to be the candidate promoted by retired military officers and is likely to take up the Defence portfolio in the new cabinet line-up. He hails from Yobe State.
The three former governors who may be appointed ministers include Third Republic governor of Kwara State Alhaji Muhammadu Shaba Lafiagi. He is said to be promoted by Kwara State governor Alhaji Bukola Saraki, who has the ear of Yar'adua. Lafiagi, who became governor under the wings of Kwara political godfather Dr. Olusola Saraki, later had running battles with the kingpin, but they have since made up.
Another former governor waiting in the ministerial wings is Malam Yahaya Abdulkarim, the Third Republic governor of the old Sokoto State. He is from Zamfara State and served briefly as a minister of state for Works under President Obasanjo. Senator Mohamed Adamu Aliero, the former governor of Kebbi State, was also nominated, though the Kebbi State PDP earlier nominated Professor Mohamed Abubakar Kaoje, the former Commissioner for Education and current Vice Chancellor of the Kebbi State University of Science at Aliero.
Secretary of the Dr. Olusola Saraki-led Northern Union, Dr. Ibrahim Yakubu Lame, is likely to be nominated to fill the Bauchi State ministerial slot vacated by former Defence Minister Mahmud Yayale Ahmed, now Secretary to the Government of the Federation. Daily Trust learnt that Lame's candidacy is being championed by Saraki's son, Governor Bukola Saraki of Kwara State as well as former Delta State Governor James Ibori. Lame was said earlier this year to have been appointed deputy chief of staff to Yaradua, but he never got the job. The chief of staff's office was subsequently abolished, and Lame may now get a ministerial job.
If Lame eventually makes it to the cabinet, he will be upstaging PDP's former gubernatorial candidate in Bauchi State Alhaji Muham-madu Nadada Umar, who is said to enjoy the backing of the party's hierarchy in Bauchi. The ouster of 20 ministers-coming after the resignation of two others earlier in the year and the appointment of Yayale as SGF in September-left many states without the constitutionally required ministerial representation.
Reliable sources said yesterday that either of Chief of Staff to Governor Gbenga Daniel, Mr. Yomi Majeko-dunmi, or chairman of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS, Prof. Babatunde Osotimehin, may be nominated to fill the Ogun State slot. Majekodunmi is being backed by the governor, while Osotimehim is said to be a candidate of some Aso Rock insiders.
Either the National Assembly Adviser to the President, Senator Mohamed Abba Aji, or former FCT Minister Ibrahim Bunu is tipped to take up the Borno State slot in the cabinet; while either of former Kaduna State Finance Commissioner Suleiman Hunkuyi or Senator Isaiah Balat may take up the Kaduna State slot. Yaradua may also seize the opportunity to deliver on a campaign promise to give the Kaduna slot to former state governor Alhaji Ahmed Makarfi, now a senator.
Also on the list of nominees, Daily Trust gathered, are two All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP) representatives: Dr. Karima Ahmed Sani, wife of former Zamfara Governor and now Senator Ahmed Sani, as well as Alhaji Mala Sheriff, younger brother of Borno State Governor Ali Modu Sheriff. Alhaji Mala was once a commissioner in the administration of the late Governor Malah Kachalla. The two are to replace ANPP's representatives in the so-called Government of National Unity, former Minister of Women Affairs Saudatu Bungudu and former Minister of State for Information Ibrahim Dasuki Nakande.
Among the ministers retained after Wednesday's shake-up, Mr. Godsday Oru-bebe, at present Minister of Special Duties and Supervisory Minister of National Planning, may take up the newly-created Ministry of Niger Delta. Orubebe, from Delta State, whose appointment late last year was dogged by controversy and faced stiff opposition from Governor Emmanuel Uduag-han, turned out to be a very competent technocrat, sources said.
President Umaru Yar'a-dua on Wednesday sacked 20 of his 39 ministers. Those sacked include Adamu Maina Waziri, Charles Ugwuh, Ahmed Garba Bichi, Igwe Aja-Nwachukwu, Jerry Anthony Agada, Fatima Balar-aba Ibrahim, Emmanuel Olat-unde Odusina, Halima Tayo Alao, Aliyu Modibbo Umar and John James Akpanu-doedehe.
Others were Tijani Yahaya Kaura, Ibrahim Das-uki Nakande, Alhaji Haruna Hassan, Sarafa Tunji Isola, Ahmed Mohammed Gusau, Felix Hyatt, John Okechukwu Emeka, Saudatu Usman Bungudu, Mohammed Sanusi Daggash and Abdulrahman Hassan Gimba.
Before the ouster of the 20 ministers, two others-Professor Adenike Grange and Gabriel Aduku-had resigned in the wake of the N300 million scandal in the health ministry.
Daily Trust learnt that ahead of the submission of list of ministerial nominees to the Senate, PDP leaders have been holding series of meetings to fine tune the list. A source said one of such meetings was held at the Defence Guest House in Abuja on Wednesday night with PDP's national leaders and seven of the potential ministerial nominees. Last night, governors and other chieftains of the ANPP were also meeting in Maiduguri, Borno State. Though a source said the meeting was earlier scheduled, it was expected to deliberate on the party's nominees of minister under the GNU arrangement.
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