Abuja — Jostling began in earnest yesterday for plum ministerial positions a day after Acting President Goodluck Jonathan dissolved the Federal Executive Council.

Daily Trust learnt that PDP national leaders and other top shots, state governors, many of the recently removed ministers, as well as influential lawmakers and traditional rulers were already mounting pressure on the Presidency to get either themselves or their nominees to be appointed as ministers.

Already, the Acting President had indicated to the former ministers at Wednesday's farewell cabinet meeting that most of them could bounce back to office. A senior political source however said Jonathan may not be able to deliver on that promise because hundreds of party men have been waiting in the wings to serve as ministers.

PDP National Chairman Prince Vincent Ogbulafor was at the State House yesterday and held a two hour meeting with Jonathan. Although Ogbulafor told reporters that he was in the Villa to brief the Acting President on party issues, sources said the party chief and his colleagues insisted on the PDP national and state branches retaining an important role in the selection of new ministers in order to retain the loyalty and morale of party men ahead of next year's general elections.

Daily Trust learnt that the party bosses were fearful that a small clique of the Acting President's aides and friends could hijack the nominating process to foist their own men as ministers, to the detriment of loyal party men and women.

Also seen at the State House yesterday was Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Council, retired Lt Gen T. Y Danjuma, who recently urged Jonathan to make the most of the time available to him in running the government. Danjuma also had a separate meeting with Jonathan for about two hours. Sources said it may not unconnected with the new list of ministers.

Also at the State House yesterday was Chief Rochas Okorocha, who finished second in the PDP's presidential primaries of December 2006, after President Umaru Musa Yar'adua. Some sources said Okorocha was at the Villa to perfect his nomination as minister.

Daily Trust also learnt that state governors who belong to the PDP, about 28 of them, have already made representations to the Acting President demanding that they play key roles in nominating ministers from their states. The governors repeated their position of two weeks ago, that Jonathan made a mistake by nominating members without of his Presidential Advisory Council without consulting them, something that they said did not happen even under the imperial President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Sources said most of the governors want to change the ministers who were representing their states in the Federal cabinet. A source said this was mostly due to calculations for the 2011 elections, since first term governors fear that a minister who serves in the cabinet for too long could "grow wings" and challenge them for the party nomination later this year.

Many other ministerial hopefuls have run to influential party men and regional leaders who have an influence on Jonathan. The top player is believed to be Ijaw leader Chief Edwin Clark. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former military ruler General Ibrahim Babangida, General T. Y. Danjuma, new National Security Adviser general Aliyu Mohamed Gusau, Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Jonathan loyalist Mahmud Yayale Ahmed are all thought to be influential in the new selection process.

Besides, many former ministers are mounting lobbies of their own to bounce back into the cabinet. Those former ministers thought to be in the Acting President's good books are believed to include Professor Dora Akunyili, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke, Elder Godsday Orubebe, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode [SAN] and Chief Demola Seriki. Conversely, former ministers thought to be loyal to the ailing President Yar'adua are thought to stand little chance of returning to office under Jonathan.

Ogbulafor told reporters after meeting Jonathan yesterday that the ruling Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP) asked him to consult the party before appointing new ministers. The party also threw its weight behind Jonathan, saying that it was in full support of the cabinet dissolution.

Asked to comment on the role of the party in the constitution of the new cabinet, Ogbulafor said: "The Acting president will consult us. He did the dissolution yesterday and we will give him time to do the consultation. I am in the State House to brief the Acting President on party issues."

Ogbulafor, who described Jonathan as a "party man to the core," urged him to liaise with the party, saying that the party has key role to play in the running the government.

"We still play a key role. I have absolute confidence in the Acting President. He is a party man, he has been governor of a state and he has been a Vice President and now an Acting President. So, he is a party man to the core. We are satisfied. Very, very satisfied with the dissolution of the cabinet."

Even though Dr. Jonathan had indicated to the former ministers on Wednesday that his reconstitution of the new cabinet will be quick, a top PDP official told Daily Trust last night it would take about two weeks to reconstitute it. He said the process of consulting governors and party branches was just beginning and he did not think that Jonathan could have a list ready before the next 10 days at least.

Meanwhile, Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters Mohammed Abba-Aji said yesterday that only credible people would make the new list of ministers.

He told reporters at the State House in Abuja that the list has not been handed over to him, adding that he has confidence in the Acting President that only the best candidates would be picked for the job.

Abba-Aji was among the many visitors to the Villa yesterday, apparently to consult with Jonathan over the transmission of new ministers' names to the National Assembly. Asked what the National Assembly will be looking for in the new nominees, he said, "the best. People who he can work with to move this nation forward."