Failed political horse-trading deals for governmet appointments at federal level have left a glut of All Progressives Party (APC) actors and loyalists who need to be appeased, jostling for cabinet jobs at state level.
Consequently, governors and the party leadership at state level are said to be tweaking and retweaking lists of nominees for the positions of commissioners and special advisers among others, to accommodate party loyalists who were active in the political planning and mobilisation processes leading up to the 2015 general elections.
In Lagos, it was gathered that some persons earlier tipped for cabinet positions were eventually dumped to accommodate bigger fish who were positioned for, but failed to clinch appointments at federal level.
This trend, a source says, flows from the appointments made so far by President Buhari at the federal level, which fall short of party expectations at state level.
BusinessDay gathered that this trend affects Lagos and other APC controlled states in the southwest.
These include Ogun, Oyo and Osun states.
The APC coalition in the South West is touted to have given President Muhammdu Buhari the winning edge, considering that he was previously not a strong bet in the area.
The Afenifere Renewal Group has criticised Buhari’s appointments, saying they failed to make a strong “first impression”.
Afenifere,a pan-Yoruba socio-political group, in a statement by its publicity secretary, Kunle Famoriyo, said the appointments have created many confusing interpretations, instead of galvanising the country towards an expected course to rebuild Nigeria, as charted in the APC manifesto, as only three persons from the geo-political zone made the list of 30 appointed so far.
“We want to remind Mr President that Yoruba people have never been cannon fodder and will resist any such treatment,” the group said.
A source told BusinessDay on Wednesday, that lobbying is continuing as Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode and leaders of the ruling APC inundated with clandestine ‘political emissaries’ pushing to personally make the list of the yet to be formed cabinet.
Our correspondent gathered that some former local government chairmen in last political dispensation who were persuaded by the APC leadership in the state to drop their ambition to contest for the Federal House of Representatives are getting agitated. As events unfold, it was learnt, their chances of making the cabinet are getting thinner.
But the governor is said to be calm, amidst the pressure. An impeccable source told BusinessDay that even in the face of the lobbying, Ambode is not in a hurry to announce his cabinet, as he is pre-occupied with the task of stabilising the state’s finances, which the same source said had plummeted because of the fierce political campaign that characterised the last general elections.
“The intensity of the campaign between the ruling APC and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which wanted Lagos at all costs, meant that the ruling party needed to do more to retain Lagos.
“As an insider, I can tell you that the governor is however not in a hurry to announce his cabinet. The commissioners when announced, would come with their personal aides, and the state needs money to maintain them.
“The governor is plugging the loopholes, shoring up the revenues, and putting structures in place so that the commissioners upon their appointment, would have a ready template” said the source on Wednesday.
Ambode was sworn in on May 29 this year and has been running the affairs of the state without a constituted cabinet. A few days after his swearing in, he appointed the secretary to the state government, chief of staff, chief press secretary and principal secretary, with whom he has worked in the last three months.
The governor, who recently retired 15 permanent secretaries and appointed 19 others to fill the gaps, said it was necessary to tidy up the system, preparatory to the constitution his executive council. The council would be made of deputy governor, secretary to the state government, chief of staff, state head of service, commissioners and special advisers.
Among the names being put forward for commissioners are those of Gbolahan Lawal, former commissioner for agriculture, Ganiyu Johnson, two-time special adviser on works in the immediate past administration, Kayode Opeifa, former commissioner for transport, Abdullateef Abdulhakeem, former special adviser on political and legislative powers.
Others are Modupe Akinsola, Paul Kalejaiye, Lola Akande, Dayo Mobereola, who is the MD of Lagos Metopolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) and Mohammed Kabiru, among others.
JOSHUA BASSEY
