Akani Alaka
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is expected to swear in members of his cabinet in a few days from now to help tackle the multiplicity of challenges confronting the country.
Indeed, Nigerians who have been reeling in pains induced by the different policies introduced by Tinubu in his less than three months in office will hope that the 44 men and women who have been cleared by the Senate for swearing-in as ministers will join the President in efforts to provide succour for them.
The President had forwarded names of 47 nominees to the Senate for approval as members of his cabinet, but the lawmakers had put clearance of three of the persons on the list in abeyance, citing security reasons.
Key among those whose nominations were not confirmed was former Kaduna State governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai who indicated during his appearance at the Senate that the President had told him that he would be saddled with the task of helping him to solve the seemingly intractable challenge of providing electricity to Nigerians.
El-Rufai, a former director general of the Bureau of Public Enterprises and former minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, had during the screening spoken extensively on the challenges hindering efforts to provide power to Nigerians and how to tackle them.
El-Rufai’s Debacle
Some reports, however, indicated that the former governor who was one of the governors who campaigned vigorously to ensure Tinubu’s emergence had indicated that he is no longer interested in the ministerial appointment.
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Even as different stakeholders continue to come up with different conspiracy theories on why he was not cleared, some analysts said the former Kaduna governor is one nominee that could have made a difference in Tinubu’s cabinet.
Corrupt/Underperformed Ex-governors
However, while El-Rufai may not be available when Tinubu swears in his cabinet, there will be eight other former governors that will be sworn in as ministers.
However, some of the governors have also been dogged by different controversies including allegations of corruption which analysts said should have disqualified them from being confirmed by the Senate.
While it was believed that ex-governors like Nyesom Wike and Dave Umahi had good records in terms of the infrastructural development they embarked on when they were in power in their states, some of the other governors have nothing concrete that could justify their inclusion in the presidential cabinet beyond political patronage.
Some of them are also enmeshed in different allegations of corruption that many think should have made the President give them a wide berth.
For instance, many will say former Osun governor, Adegboyega Oyetola, who was voted out of office over alleged non-performance after only one term will not be bringing anything new to the cabinet. In the same bracket with him is Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, under whose leadership the security situation deteriorated in Kebbi State with the abduction of many students, some of whom were in the custody of their abductors for over a year before their parents were able to put money together to secure their freedom.
Worse still he has also been named as an accomplice of the late Nigeria’s military president Sani Abacha’s theft of $2.2 billion between 1993 and 1998.
The US government had in 2014 alleged that Abacha, his son Mohammed, Bagudu and others stole billions of dollars from the coffers of the Nigerian government and, thereafter, laundered the money to purchase bonds in the country.
The US government is still seeking forfeiture of over $177 million allegedly belonging to Bagudu and his relatives believed to be taken from the Nigerian treasury.
In the same boat was former Zamfara governor, Bello Matawalle who was voted out of office after only one term. His tenure as governor was characterized by wide-scale insecurity with bandits occupying many communities in the state where they also regularly abduct students and other residents.
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Matawalle also owed over N1 billion in unpaid WAEC fees of students of the state. His screening was characterized by mockery of the certificates he submitted to the Senate for screening and appointment as minister.
However, many are critical of the inclusion of Matwalle on Tinubu’s ministerial list because they believe that his appointment will serve as a shield against the ongoing investigation of the alleged theft of over N70 billion by the EFCC.
The EFCC had alleged that the former governor diverted the funds sourced as loans from a bank through proxies and contractors who received payment for contracts that were not executed. The EFCC had earlier said it would arrest the former governor at the end of the expiration of his tenure on May 29.
The anti-graft agency said some of the contractors who had been invited and quizzed by the commission, made startling revelations on how they were allegedly compelled by the governor to return the funds received from the state coffers to him. EFCC said as part of the extensive investigation of contracts awarded by the Matawalle administration, especially for phantom projects in the local government areas, it had recovered N300 million from a company, Fezel Nigeria Limited.
However, the governor had dragged the EFCC to court, alleging that the suspended chairman of EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa demanded a bribe from him. Analysts believe that his presence in Tinubu’s cabinet may just be a smokescreen to keep the EFCC off his back, not to contribute to national development.
Another former governor on the list was Ibrahim Gaidam who served as governor of Yobe State for 10 years across three terms from January 2009 to May 2019. He has been in the Senate since he left office representing the Yobe East district. He was reelected in 2023 before he was nominated for ministerial appointment by Tinubu.
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The Others
However, there are also others who analysts believe can contribute to the development of the country. For one, there is Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, a former member of the House of Representatives, governorship aspirant in Bauchi State and former Nigeria’s Ambassador to Germany. Tuggar reportedly facilitated the state visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to Nigeria in August 2018.
Also, on the list was Umar Dangiwa who participated in the APC governorship primary election in Katsina State in May 2022. The former APC governorship aspirant has 30 years of working experience in real estate, infrastructure development, banking and management experience spanning the private and public sectors.
Hannatu Musawa was first appointed as Special Adviser on Culture and Entertainment to President Bola Tinubu before she was nominated for appointment as minister.
Musawa, a lawyer, was deputy spokesperson of the APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) and it was believed that her inclusion was because of the role she played in the election of the president.
Betta Edu, a former Commissioner for Health, Cross River who was born on 27 October 1986 is the youngest nominee on the ministerial list. Edu, who is the National Women Leader of the APC was also the National Chairman of the Nigeria Health Commissioners Forum. Also on the list is Nkiru Onyejeocha, a member of the House of Representatives, representing the Isuikwuato/Umunneochi Federal Constituency of Abia State.
Others who analysts believe can make a difference in the cabinet include Dele Alake, a former editor of the National Concord, Lateef Fagbemi, a Senior Advocate of Nigerian (SAN) and a jurist who has contributed to the development of Law and Justice in Nigeria in various ways and Olawale Edun, a seasoned financial expert, banker and commissioner for finance in Lagos during Mr. Tinubu’s tenure as governor.
There is also Adebayo Adelabu a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and 2019 governorship aspirant of APC in Oyo State.
Others on the list include Olatunbosun Tijani, co-founder and CEO of Co-Creation Hub (CcHUB), a leading Pan-African innovation and technology centre who initiated the first visit of Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg to Nigeria in August 2016 and former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey in 2019.
There is also Dr Muhammad Ali Pate, former CEO of Gavi Alliance and a professor of the Practice of Public Health Leadership in the Department of Global Health and Population at Harvard University.
He had also worked as Global Director for Health, Nutrition and Population and Director of the Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents (GFF) at the World Bank Group. The inclusion of the nominees listed above and some others not mentioned will certainly excite many.
Few Outstanding Nominees
But a public commentator, Jide Ojo said the cabinet list does not inspire confidence. “For someone like Bello Matawalle, what was his track record in Zamfara State? What qualifies Oyetola to be a minister after he lost his re-election bid? Recall what happened between Godswill Akpabio and Festus Keyamo to the extent that Keyamo had to ask Buhari to move him away and that is how he landed in the Ministry of Labour and Employment,” he said in an interview.
A columnist and journalist, Waziri Adio, noted that while more “than ever before, Nigeria needs a star-studded cabinet, not up to a quarter of the crowd assembled by President Tinubu can be said to be really stellar based on comparable experience, antecedents and credibility.
“Some of them should not even be heads of federal agencies if we take into consideration the depth of talents available to us within and outside the country.
“By my generous reckoning, I can count only 10 high-achievers in Tinubu’s big band, and most people are convinced that they are even playing hanky-panky with Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, the only one among the standouts with solid experience in implementing difficult and consequential reforms at the federal level.