The much-awaited ministerial list of President Bola Tinubu, when released, could be dominated by immediate past governors, according to reports.
However, reports also indicate that some of the political loyalists of the president have expressed their dissatisfaction over the planned inclusion of the ex-governors on the ministerial list.
They were said to have described the possibility as full of “bad optics,” expressing their fears that that could further damage the public’s acceptance of the government.
A source close to the presidency said some close allies of the president, both within and outside the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), raised objections to the inclusion of the immediate past governors on the ministerial list as they claimed it could lead to a loss of goodwill by the administration.
Former governors of Kano, Abdullahi Ganduje; Rivers, Nyesom Wike; Kebbi, Atiku Bagudu; Kaduna, Nasiru el-Rufai; and Nasarawa State, Tanko Al-Makura, are allegedly on the ministerial list, according to the Nigerian Tribune.
The inclusion of the former governors who just left office into the federal cabinet may reflect poorly on the administration’s vow to be refreshingly different in quality.
Of course, some of Tinubu’s loyalists see this as a continuation of the past, which they claim might erode the moderate public goodwill the new administration enjoys.
“What is the political weight and relevance of the former governors now in their states? Nigerians would simply think Asiwaju isn’t serious if he went ahead to announce these former governors as ministers. But we wait,” one of the president’s loyalists questioned.
A source disclosed that the Inclusion of the ex-governors in the ministerial list could delay the eventual submission of the list and may exceed the 60-day constitutional deadline for the composition of the federal cabinet.
Another source, however, said that the names could be submitted in batches to beat the constitutional provision.
The ongoing subtle campaign against the former governors is reportedly reverberating in many North-Central states, where the combination of religion and ethnicity has taken a front-row seat in contrasting narratives being pushed by contending interests.
The battle is said to be most fierce in Nasarawa State, where Al-Makura is up against his estranged protege and governor of the State, Engineer Abdullahi Sule.
Though Al-Makura’s name is atop the three-man list sent in by Sule for consideration, the Nigerian Tribune gathered that the inclusion of the ex-governors name was at the behest of the traditional institution in the state.
In a statement last month, the former governor said he withdrew the petition as a personal sacrifice for the stability of Nasarawa and Nigeria.
If Al-Makura, who is currently the heavy favorite for the ministerial slot, eventually gets nominated, his Southern senatorial zone would have both a senate seat and the ministerial slot at the federal level.
The bigger rumbling in the state is the clamor by the majority Eggon ethnic bloc for the ministerial slot, arguing that the minority Hausa, Fulani, and Kanuri have so far cornered the slot among other federal appointments.
Mohammed Abdullahi, the immediate minister (Environment) representing the state, is of the minority Hausa/Fulani/Kanuri bloc.
The ethnic tension is also boiling over in other North Central States, where Fulani settlers and their host communities have engaged in decades-long hostilities.
