Mai Gaskiya and his coming cabinet

The nation is holding its breathe. Who will the President retain in his new cabinet and who will kiss their ministerial jobs goodbye? What manner of new nominees will be lucky to make the ministerial list? These are nerve-racking questions agitating the minds of many Nigerians as they feverishly await presidential pronouncement on the character […]

The nation is holding its breathe. Who will the President retain in his new cabinet and who will kiss their ministerial jobs goodbye? What manner of new nominees will be lucky to make the ministerial list? These are nerve-racking questions agitating the minds of many Nigerians as they feverishly await presidential pronouncement on the character and make up of President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term cabinet.

Should a President whose stand on corruption fight has won him effusive praises and cheers locally and internationally, for politics sake, political expediency, loyalty and sentiments of friendship, nominate and appoint persons facing corruption charges, whose case files are coldly staring at EFCC chairman, Ibrahim Magu?

The likelihood of President Buhari bending backward to do the unthinkable in the name of party patronage appoint people of questionable character into his new cabinet is better imagined.

However, should he choose to stake his famed integrity to accommodate them in the coming cabinet, then Mr. President would have irredeemably diluted his own characterisation as mai gaskiya (the honest one).He would have permanently inflicted deep injury in his anti-corruption fight and will no longer claim any moral fibre to talk about People’s Democratic Party , PDP’s alleged 16 years of misrule, looting and corruption.

In the same vein, should the President also wilfully appoint divisive figures into his new cabinet- politicians whose activities, brand of politics and bombastic vituperations have the potential to engender insecurity in their respective states-then the Commander-in-Chief himself would inadvertently have given freshness to the debilitating insecurity now bedevilling parts of the country.

And will Mr. President also appoint Ministers who see flippancy as new normal; individuals who have the penchant  to make unguarded statements on the spur of moment? To assign cabinet roles to such individuals is to reduce governance to a joke thus vitiating the respect Nigerians have for the President.

That is perhaps why some Akwa Ibom members of Buhari’s party are curiously rising against the possibility of appointing one of their own, the former governor, Senator Godswill Akpabio, as minister. Akpabio is on the EFCC radar. Even though he has not been convicted, not a few feel he should clear himself first before being considered for such national assignment.

Democracy is about the people-their desire, their interest, their will. Meeting these cleavages is one of the core mandate of political leaders whether as President, governor or lawmaker. It is imperative that the reasons behind the rage be carefully studied by the President to see if the people have a valid case against their former governor, who they have accused of being deficient in character and accountability.

Essentially, since he was re-elected on February 23, at every juncture, President Buhari has made it clear he has no luxury of time, meaning he will hit the ground running immediately after his second term inauguration on Wednesday, May 29, 2019. There are indications therefore, that the President will waste no time in unveiling his ministerial nominees.  When actually he will name them and who makes the ministerial list are still in the womb of time.

But that haven’t stopped lobbyists and power influencers as they knock on doors and bestride corridors in search presidential favours. In all these, one name that has featured prominently is Senator Akpabio. He incidentally was part of the so-called PDP’s 16 years of misrule. He was a Commissioner under former Governor Victor Attah.

He later become governor, ruling for eight years, between 2007-2015 before going to the Senate. He resigned as Senate Minority Leader last August  and subsequently decamped to the All Progressives Congress, APC, the platform under which he lost the senatorial election to Chris Ekpeyong, former deputy governor in Attah’s government.

However, having in the last 20 years enjoyed the splendour and perks of office and the exhilarating visibility that comes with them, the former governor is not prepared to be a mere spectator in the current game or watch from the side lines as his comrades in the APC prance the corridors of the presidential villa in President Buhari’s second coming.

Akpabio is allegedly plotting to mitigate his senatorial defeat with a ministerial position. A move his people are kicking against as they fear a possible replication of the debilitating Governor Wike/Amaechi spat in Rivers state. They are concerned that a mistake in the choice of a ministerial nominee for Akwa Ibom will cost the state the peace it now enjoys, as it may impact negatively on the state and its oil production potentials, and by extension, Nigeria’s economy. They are worried that Akpabio’s recent toxic politics of “Warsaw” would plunge Akwa Ibom into unnecessary tension and bloodshed.

They are apprehensive that having the former governor as Minister representing Akwa Ibom in the Federal cabinet approximate to willy nilly putting two captains in charge of one ship. Akpabio will seek to dominate Akwa Ibom’s political turf using federal might. He will see himself as governor emeritus. This will be catastrophic for the state, they warned.

Akpabio will seek to play the Nero in Akwa Ibom. And then a peaceful Akwa Ibom will be rocked by the kind of the infamous Amaechi/Wike, Governor Ajimobi/Adebayo Shittu (Communication Minister) and Governor Ortom/Senator George Akume’s sceptre of unsettling tiff.

A pro- Buhari group, “Akwa Ibom Integrity and Servant Leadership Culture Initiative” has drawn President Buhari’s attention to this, cautioning him against appointing Akpabio or any other person with corruption case into his impending new cabinet.

Akpabio, according to his opposers has been boasting thus: “Mr. President is even begging me to accept a ministerial position. That is how important I am in this country. But they know that having missed the Senate Presidency, I can only accept a super ministry. That is if I didn’t get the chief of staff position. It’s a matter of time, we will know who is the boss in this state”

Now, coming to the future of the APC in Akwa Ibom, evidently, the party is fated to stunted growth with a divisive character in charge as party leader. Many had thought that Akpabio’s joining APC would bring cool breeze of good fortunes to the party in the state, but rather, his highhanded nature and disrespect for internal democracy in the party and the will of the people to choose their leaders, became a raging storm that uprooted the recognized structures of the party right from the grassroots, as he imposed party leaders even at the unit and wards levels. Leaving many party men and women very bruised, trampled and disgruntled.

One needs not look far to see that Akpabio’s entry into the party has tragically discomfigured Akwa Ibom APC. Results of the last elections in the state tells the sordid story better.

Will the president reward this brazen strangulation of his party with ministerial appointment? If the President does, then his avowed commitment to democracy and fair play would have taken an avoidable nose dive.

Imeh sent this piece from Uyo.