HOW OBASANJO SCUTTLED TINUBU'S AMBITION OF PRODUCING BUHARI'S MINISTER OF FINANCE.

It is no longer news that President Muhammadu Buhari
is set to constitute his cabinet.
What Nigerians are keen on, however, is knowing those
who would make the final list Buhari will send to the
National Assembly for confirmation.
Already, a number of individuals – professionals,
technocrats and politicians – have been screened by
the Department of State Services (DSS).
The process recently concluded has confirmed the
president’s intent to meet the end of September
deadline he set for himself regarding the much-
anticipated ministerial list.
But indications have emerged on how former President,
Olusegun Obasanjo and ex-Lagos State Governor, Bola
Tinubu, have been slugging it out in recent weeks to
have their candidates make the final list as well as get
certain ministerial positions.
Obasanjo, it was leant, was given two ministerial slots
of Ogun and Osun, while Tinubu and South-West
leaders would fill the four other slots remaining in the
region.
According to New Telegraph, a former Lagos State
Commissioner for Finance and a nominee of Tinubu
into the cabinet, Wale Edun, “has become the first
casualty of the ego war.”
Tinubu had recommended Edun to Buhari as Minister of
Finance and has been screened by the Department of
State Services (DSS).
He may now be replaced by Chairman, Citibank Nigeria
Limited and one-time Lagos State Commissioner for
Budget and Economic Planning, Yemi Cardoso, as a
Lagos representative in the cabinet.
DAILY POST gathered that drama over Edun started
when a group of influential Lagos indigenes, including
traditional rulers and some of his colleagues that
served in the Tinubu administration, kicked against his
choice as a Lagos State ministerial nominee.
According to them, Edun is not a Lagosian only that he
has lived all his adult life in the state.
But Tinubu insisted on Edun’s candidature and
requested that Edun be named as Ogun State nominee,
a move Obasanjo and Ogun State Governor, Senator
Ibikunle Amosun resisted because they already have a
candidate.
Obasanjo then sent word to Tinubu to stop pushing
Edun as Ogun State nominee, because he was someone
whose work and career were rooted in Lagos State.
The Ota farmer also cited the example of Prof. Yemi
Osinbajo whom he considered to be more of a Lagosian
than an Ogun indigene, but was nominated by Tinubu
as Vice President.
Obasanjo and Amosun have agreed to give the state’s
slot in the cabinet to a former Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) National Auditor, Chief Bode Mustapha.
Other Obasanjo’s nominees are former Osun State
Governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola (Osun); former
Governor of Ekiti State and Deputy National Chairman
(South) of the APC, Segun Oni (Ekiti); former Minister of
Education, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili and former Governor,
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Prof. Chukwuma
Soludo.
Obasanjo in his first visit to Buhari in Abuja submitted
the names and got favourable assurances.
In his second visit, Obasanjo reminded the president of
his candidates and the promise Buhari made to him.
“The president assured Baba that not all will be
ministers,” a source had told DAILY POST after that
meeting.
“But that those who do not make the ministerial list
would get other appointments. Ambassadorial slots
part of the altnernative.”
It would be recalled that less than 48 hours after the
two retired generals met, Tinubu and former Interim
National Chairman of APC, Chief Bisi Akande, visited
Buhari to inform him that South-West APC leaders
would not accept a situation where Obasanjo would
determine those who become ministers.
New Telegraph further quoted a source that Tinubu and
Akande did not oppose the choice of Oyinlola as a
minister representing Osun State in respect of an
earlier agreement.
“It was a moral issue. Obasanjo is not a member of the
APC and cannot appropriate the positions of the zone to
himself. The South-West leaders have been meeting for
two months on the ministerial nominee, only for
Obasanjo to sit in Ota and draw up a ministerial list.
That is why the leaders kicked against the idea.
“That will be killing the party in the South-West. He
can’t be an alternate APC. Obasanjo should be
respected as a leader, but he can’t hijack what belongs
to the region. “On Obasanjo’s ministerial list, former
Governor Oyinlola featured just as his name featured
from the list submitted from the state.
“There was no resistance to Oyinlola’s nominee
because that was part of the agreement before his
defection from the PDP to the APC. The party has
fulfilled one leg of the agreement by ceding the
senatorial slot to Senator Isiaka Adeleke who also
defected from PDP to the APC.”
Meanwhile, Buhari would submit the ministerial list to
the National Assembly next week either before or
during his trip to New York on Tuesday for the United
Nations conference.
The newspaper also reported that Buhari may have
settled for Director-General of the APC Presidential
Campaign Council and former Rivers Governor, Rotimi
Amaechi, as the nominee from the state.
He and former Governor of old Abia State, Dr.
Ogbannaya Onu, lost out in the race for Secretary to the
Government of the Federation (SGF).
Onu is now expected to be filled in as the candidate for
Ebonyi ministerial slot.
Respected economist, Prof. Pat Utomi, is the likely
nominee of Delta State. He is being backed by
professionals in APC led by Osinbajo.
Former Governor of Kano State, Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso,
may be forwarded as Kano candidate despite being a
serving senator.
A former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Abdurahman
Dambazzau, is also expected to make the list. It is not
know if Buhari will make him Minister of Defence.
For Edo State, former Executive Chairman, the Federal
Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mrs. Ifueko Omogui-
Okauru or a former Special Adviser to Obasanjo on
Programme and Policy Monitoring, Prof. Julius
Ihonvbere, may get the state’s slot.
In Kwara, a former Minister of Sports, Bolaji Abdullahi,
may fill the state’s slot, except Buhari requests another
name. Reason: Abdullahi is a close ally of Senate
President Bukola Saraki, whom the president seems
uncomfortable with.
Abdullahi was the Deputy Director, Directorate of Policy
and Strategy of the APC Presidential Campaign
Organisation. Should he fail to make the list, enter
National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Alhaji Lai
Mohammed.
Ekiti slot still looks dire for former Governors Niyi
Adebayo, Segun Oni and Kayode Fayemi after Buhari
personally expressed interest in human rights activist,
Mr. Femi Falana (SAN).
In fact, Osinbajo and Tinubu, are pushing for his
candidacy as the Attorney General of the Federation
and Minister of Justice while ambassadorial slot for
Ekiti is reserved for Fayemi.
In Adamawa, Boss Gida Mustapha, a lawyer and
member of the Ahmed Joda-led transition committee
set up by the president, may become minister.
Mustapha lost the APC governorship ticket to
incumbent Governor, Senator Bindow Jibrilla.
In Kebbi, Alhaji Abubakar Malami (SAN), is highly
favoured.
He is also a member of the transition committee and
has been a long time associate of Buhari since his
days in Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) where
he was National Legal Adviser.