Nearly two months after President Muhammadu Buhari’s formal inauguration, the list of his nominees for cabinet positions finally surfaced on the floor of the Senate.
Last Tuesday, President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, read the names of the 43 nominees to his colleagues, which instantly courted mixed feelings within the precinct of the Red Chamber and across the country.
For the senators, the needless delay in the unveiling of the much-anticipated list was almost culminating in a test of will between the National Assembly and the Presidency, as the spokesperson of the Senate, Adedayo Adeyeye, had threatened that the lawmakers would not abort their annual recess for the screening of nominees if President Buhari failed to turn in the list of nominees on time.
Lawmakers in both chambers of the National Assembly were expected to proceed on their annual recess on Thursday, July 26.
Senator Adeyeye, at a media session penultimate week, had advised the Presidency to be mindful of the timetable of the Senate.
He said: “Let me tell you one thing: the executive is aware and most Nigerians are aware of the timetable of the Senate. There is a particular time of the year when the Senate will go on a recess. That being in mind, they should be mindful of when to carry out this constitutional responsibility, because the Senate itself has its own timetable.
However, on Tuesday, the Senate President read the letter which conveyed the ministerial nominations to the senators, with the task of screening the nominees beginning in earnest in the Upper chamber of the National Assembly.
Interestingly, no sooner had the Senate President unveiled the ministerial nominations than Nigerians began to respond to the development.
While a cross section of Nigerians have greeted the list with outright condemnation, describing the nominees as ‘same old order’ and berating President Buhari for taking two months to unveil a list that “offers nothing new,” others, especially loyalists of the president’s party, have been commending the step.
The disappointment occasioned by some of the names on the ministerial list has continued to rankle as the nominees are set to be given portfolios by the president, with Nigerians, many of who had expected the president to come up with a strong team of Nigerians to drive his avowed commitment to reenergise the economy and lift Nigerians out of poverty, among other promises contained in his June 12 Democracy Day speech, let down by the perceived lacklustre team the president is lining up for his second term of office.
Of the 43 names presented to the Senate, President Buhari is set to retain 14 of the 31 former ministers returns he used in his first term of office, a development that watchers of political development in the country have described as unexciting in itself going by the alleged below average performance of some of the ministers in their first term of office.
But the angry reaction to the ministerial list was not restricted to just the fact the president was bringing back some of the same old faces, the newly nominated ministers were criticised as part of the same old order, with a majority of them being former governors, former National Assembly members and former senators.
In this group of ‘new faces’ are 10 former governors indlucing Timipre Sylva; George Akume and Rauf Aregbesola and Godswill Akpabio, among others, while names like those of Senators Tayo Alasoadura, Gbemi Saraki and Olorunnibe Mamora, among others, completed the perceived ‘new order’ of ministerial nominees.
For critics of the president’s list, the recycling of these individuals, some of whom they accused of being corrupt, having appointments with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) or should be giving account of their past stewards, was a disservice to the country and an indicator that not much might change for the country in the next four years.
The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Academic Staff Union of Universities and several other individuals, including a former Special Adviser to President Shehu Shagari, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, in their separate responses to the ministerial list, criticised the list of ministers during the past week, as Nigerians were treated to different dramas on the floor of the Senate where the upper chamber of the National Assembly conducted the screening of the nominees.
But those who hail the president’s step and the team of ministers he is set to work with, believe that apart from the president presenting the list early, he has lined up individuals who has many things to offer in terms of expertise and experience, arguing that it would not be right to criticise the president or his nominees until Nigerians have seen what they were capable of doing.
For instance, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State, Chief Isaacs Kekemeke said: “I think they [ministerial nominees] have what it takes to perform. But I think the president himself must raise the bar, because there’s no use appointing a minister and allowing them to do whatever they like.”
My priority is to create more jobs ― Buhari
Those Buhari should have picked as ministers —Arogbofa
The secretary of the pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, Chief Sehinde Arogbofa, while speaking on whether those nominated to serve as ministers could make a difference in the new dispensation, said: “The whole thing shows who the president is. It reflects his view about life, his style of doing things. Honestly, while I have no personal grudges against him or any of his nominees, most of whose background one is not aware of, except that they are being laid political, I would have expected the president to go beyond that area, because of the present situation in the country. He has been too political in his appointments and that is not what Nigeria need now. He should have made a blend of all the various professionals who could really help him to make a change, a better change. The way things are in the country, it’s not good. The president should have picked people from various fields to energise and put more life into his administration. Concentrating solely on those who help to bring him back to power is not the best. I am not saying all the nominees are bad but there are people in various fields, brilliant people who could make things better. Mention it, is it in academic, medicine, business, law and other areas where people make things move?”
On his expectations of the ministers, the Afenifere chieftain said: “As I said earlier, since the major criteria has been political they will be limited, even the initiative, the newness, the ability to deliver to make the country better without political consideration will be limited. They will be more concerned about political considerations. That is the problem.”
Ministerial nominees have what it takes to perform —Kekemeke
But Kekemeke believed that the ministerial nominees “have what it takes to perform,” warning, however, that the president must set a standard.
“There must be specific targets for the ministers to accomplish over a period time. I think the president should not allow the minister to get used to the fact that they cannot be removed. In order words, they should not be allowed to believe that they are permanent people and that whether they perform or do not perform, they will stay for years. There must be targets for the ministers and there must be review of their performances, maybe annually, to check out those who do not live up to expectations, so that they don’t become lackadaisical and too comfortable,” Kekekeme added.
He said his expectations from the ministers were that as part of the president’s Next Level team, they will take Nigeria to the next level in terms of security, economy, agriculture and so on.
Kekemeke, who maintained that the ministerial nominees was a good team, singled out the Ondo State nominee, Senator Taylor Alasoadura, noting that he hoped he [Alasoadura] would bring to bear his experience as Commissioner for Finance and a senator in his new assignment.
They’ll not make much difference —Ali
A politician and private investment appraiser in Nasarawa State, Hon. Kasimu Ali, has, however, noted that the names on the ministerial lists might not make “much difference unless they diversify the revenue stream of the country.”
He said: “I have seen the list and there profiles, but one thing that is certain is that Nigeria shall not develop beyond its financial capacity in times of infrastructure. Today, we rely on oil for revenue and we are generating 2.25 barrel per day from this oil and our population is 206.5 million.
“So, if you distribute the daily production of oil equally to every Nigeria, one barrel would go to 87 Nigerians, and if it sells at $50 at average, it means, therefore, that each 10 people will share just N21,000 daily and by the time you add this by our total revenue per month, each Nigeria would receive around N9,200 monthly.
“You can see that Nigeria is really a poor country, unless Nigeria diversifies its revenue stream. there would not be much difference.
“Nigeria is endowed with intellectuals, but we don’t have the resources to develop our infrastructure we cannot make any difference, because our revenue is very low. For me, I expect that the ministers should be able to think outside the box to see that new revenue streams are created.
New ministers’ll not make any difference –Jonah, Igbo activist
In his own assessment of the ministerial list, an Igbo activist and convener of Voice from the East Movement, Mazi Kindness Jonah, told Sunday Tribune that the new crop of ministerial nominees would not make any difference from what was seen in the last cabinet.
“The new ministers will not make a difference. Difference is a math concept of margin, which connotes uni-directionality tending towards the positive or negative. The question would have been whether they will make a positive difference, to which answer is emphatic no.
“It synchronises the legal acronym that you cannot give what you do not have. This is an array of personalities; a convergence of questionable political characters whose sins have been forgiven for merely belonging to the same political party. I expect blind obedience and unalloyed support of the new ministers to Buhari, submitting willy-nilly to his apron-strings’ demands. And that is clearly inimical to national growth.
“Protracting from this view point, the new ministers will be falling over hills trying to undo one another to win the favour of Buhari. For instance, agriculture minister cannot look Southwards to develop agricultural potentials. The Minister of Transport can never look at Enugu airport.
“I do not expect much from the ministers, because they were all drawn from a particular political party, to wit the APC; or as loyalists to a particular aspiration of the president.”
More Nigerians react
Commenting on the ministerial nominees, a one-time factional chairman of the APC in Ebonyi State, Ben Nwobasi, described as the president’s nominees as men and women of proven integrity, noting that they were experienced in one thing or the other.
He expressed confidence that Nigeria would have a better deal in the next four years considering the high qualities of the nominees.
In a similar development, a commissioner-designate and former Special Assistant to the Ebonyi State governor, Mr Stanley Emeagha, commended the president for unveiling the ministerial list after only two months, noting that compared to the last four years, when it took the president up to six months to appoint ministers, this was a good development.
He maintained that he was hoping that things would go well this time round, calling on the president to consider the South-East for ‘juicy ministerial posts’ so as to facilitate development in the region.
“If you look at the ministers from the South-East in the last dispensation, you would see that they were more or less junior ministers. For instance, in Ebonyi, all of us here will attest to the fact that we never felt the impact of any minister in the last dispensation and Ebonyians cannot beat their chest and ‘say yes we have ministers.’
“So to that end, we will say that the last administration of President Buhari did not favour the South-Easterners. And the argument they always put on is that we never voted for him but he should know that not every section of the country will vote for him.”
In his comment, the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Mr Chuks Ibegbu, while responding to questions on whether the new ministers could make any difference, said: “In the first place, Ohanaeze Ndigbo had a position before the last general election and that position is still subject to electoral tribunal. However, government is a continuum and there should not be any lacuna in governance. So, if the incoming ministers are placed where they are professionally and technically competent, that is putting square pegs in square holes, then they will make a difference. That is if the president is conscious of good governance and service delivery. Both Mr. President and the ministers have to key in the transformation agenda with a view to making life meaningful to the masses.
On his expectations of the ministers, Ibegbu said: “We expect the ministers not to stay in air-condition offices like demigods dishing out orders and riding flash cars. They should meet the people, find the missing gaps and close those gaps by providing jobs to our teeming youths, implementing people-oriented programmes and policies of the government. I expect them to key into the war against corruption and be exemplary in their approach to governance.
Additional reports by Taiwo Amodu, Jude Ossai, Godwin Ena and Grace Egbo
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