Forces, interests that may determine new Kwara cabinet

Date: 2015-06-15

Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed recently sacked all his political appointees including commissioners, special advisers, assistants, chairmen of agencies and parastatals, as well as Liaison Officers and Youth Empowerment Coordinators. Daily Trust, in this report, examines the implication of the sack and the jostle for position across the 16 local government areas of the state.

The dissolution did not jolt any of the officers concerned, as they were already aware of the impending sack. And as one of the just-dissolved cabinet commissioners observed, the governor has the statutory power to hire and fire without being challenged, which he has discharged with the cabinet dissolution. However, the dissolution of the cabinet has rather motivated the sacked appointees and those aspiring for positions in the governor's second term administration to begin a race to retain their position or get a soft landing as the case may be in the Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed's new administration. Political analysts in the state opine that the performance of each of the political stakeholders in their respective backyards would determine largely their standing in the new government.

This, Daily correspondent learnt, was the marching order given to them by the APC leadership. A chieftain of the party who spoke on condition of anonymity said, "The practice has been that every politician would be given the mandate to deliver his/her polling units if not the wards for the party. The performance of each member and chieftain of the party is largely going to influence the decision on who gets what in the next cabinet.

Conscious of this marching order, most of the politicians in the nights of last elections hurriedly rushed to Iloffa road, GRA, Ilorin which is the residence of the APC leader and former Governor Bukola Saraki who is now the Senate President to submit results from their polling units. Saraki, the Senator representing Kwara Central, as has been the case in the past, is conclusively going to decide the sharing formula in the cabinet. This further explains why every APC supporter and member in the state identified with his aspiration. They organised several prayers, addressed press conferences and issued press statements endorsing Saraki as Senate President all in a bid to be noticed and rewarded with appointments. Some of them reportedly frequented Abuja and consulted traditional rulers for support as the lobby intensifies. For former members of the dissolved cabinet and others of their ilk who chaired boards or parastatals or held other appointing positions, their fate currently hangs in the balance as it was reliably gathered that new bloods would be injected into the administration as it begins a second term.

This is not to also rule out the fact that the state governor may decide to retain some members of the dissolved cabinet who are his favourites and with whom he has long-standing relationship. In this category are former Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Demola Banu, that of Justice, Barrister Kamaldeen Ajibade, among others. Besides, some chieftains of the party like Alhaji Kawu Baraje, among other party chieftains would have inputs in reconstituting the cabinet. Apparently, the state APC is in a fix and faces a more intricate situation which it has to handle with the meticulousness and sagacity it deserves in a bid to reward party men and women through positions.

The last minute defection by Senator Gbemisola Rukayyat Saraki from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to APC on the eve of the presidential election is another factor that would sway the allocation of positions. Days after the defection of Gbemi Saraki, a two-term Senator and younger sister of Senator Bukola Saraki, her loyalists and supporters followed suit. They included key members of the state executive committee of the PDP including the state Secretary, Women Leader, Youth Leader, a former Speaker of the House of Assembly, among others. Among the defectors were also seven PDP candidates for the state legislature who had to jettison their ambition in deference to their principal. Therefore, it is expected that slots would be given to the GRS group as Gbemi Saraki's political movement is famously tagged, as a way of integrating the group in the APC family.

Already, some local government chapters of APC in the state are divided over the choice of commissioner and other nominees for positions in the next cabinet. Some are accusing one another of trying to reap where they did not sow even as interest groups look up to the APC leader to do justice. Though the APC has denied any crisis in the state and that it has not decided on power sharing, all the interests, groups and individuals jostling for positions have intensified their lobby.

Spokesman of APC in the state, Alhaji Sulaiman Buhari said the party would consider merit in appointments. In a chat with Daily Trust, he said, "The party is managing it as expected of a progressive party with huge respect for participatory democracy and governance.

"It is untrue that politics of appointment into the cabinet has polarised the local government chapters of our party. Though, all members of our party are free to express interest in political appointments, the leadership of our party will consider merits above other considerations".

But all eyes are on Saraki to make the right choice. With the battle for Senate Presidency won, it is expected that the APC leadership would any moment from now sit to decide who gets what in the new cabinet. And as expected as well, the politicians have stepped up their moves towards securing places in the Ahmed's second term administration.

Source

 

Cloud Tag: What's trending

Click on a word/phrase to read more about it.

Hassan Oyeleke     CELF     Hassan Taiye Salam     Dan-Kazeem     Ahmad Olayiwola Kamaldeen     CCB     Muhammad Yahya     Abdulkadir Remi Hawawu     Economic And Financial Crimes Commission     Abatemi-Usman     Mogaji Aare     Tescom.kwarastate.gov.ng     Gurei     Sheikh Hamzat Yusuf Ariyibi     Khairat Gwadabe     Sherif Sagaya     Saadu Gbogbo Iwe     Ahman Pategi University     Musibau Akanji     AbdulFatai Adeniyi Dan-Kazeem     Deji Ajani     Abdulmalik Bashir Mopelola Risikatullahi     Iyabo Adewuyi     Adeniyi Ojo     Firdaos Amasa     Saudat Abdulbaqi     Muhammadu Gobir     AbdulRauf Keji     Bashiru Makama     Abdulraheem Yusuf     Monthly Sanitation     Galland Marcias     Adeola Abraham     Abdulrazaq Adebayo     Susan Modupe Oluwole     Mohammed Lawal     Suleiman Rotimi Iliasu     Dele Belgore     Third Estate     Saka Onimago     07039448763     Offa Descendants Union     PAACO-PCL Consortium     Akande Idowu Ayoola Muhammed     Abdullah Janet Amudat     Yusuf Aiyedun     Waheed Ibrahim     Kwarareports.com     Kubra Kazum     Wahab Agbaje     Muritala Olarewaju     Mujtabah Bature     Obayomi Azeez     Basit Olatunji     Ubandoma     Abdulkadir Bolakale Sakariyah     Kwara-SAPZ Project     Lukman Adeloyin     Gbajabiamila     College Of Health     Laduba     Balogun Gambari     Fatimoh Lawal     Halimat Yusuf     Kwara Consultative Forum     Musa Alhassan Buge     Bello Taoheed Abubakar     Joseph Bamigboye     NITDA     A.G.F Abdulrasaq     Bukola Saraki     Millennium Development Goals     AbdulRazaq Jiddah     Admiralty Villa     Esuwoye     Olatunji Ibrahim     Ilorin Talaka Parapo    

Cloud Tag: What's trending

Click on a word/phrase to read more about it.

Sardauna Of Ilorin     Oya State     Ilorin     Babs Iwarere     Iyabo Dupe Adekeye     Ahmed \'Lateef     Yunus Lawal     Abraham Ojo     Pius Abioje     Dar-Al-Handasah Consultants Ltd     Bursary     Abubakar Atiku     Yekini Adio     Balogun Gambari     Abdulmumini AbdulRazaq     Busari Toyin Isiaka     Ahmad Fatima Bisola     Bayo Lawal     School Of Nursing     Jeunkunu-Malete-Bani     Issa Memunat Moyosore     Ophthalmological Society Of Nigeria     Mohammed Abduraheem     Kazeem Oladepo     Mohammed Ibrahim     Mustapha Akanbi     General Hospital, Ilorin     Ahmed Mohammed Rifun     Tsaragi     Iqra Books     Oke-Ode     Olupako     IEDPU     Binta Abubakar Mora     Joseph Daudu     Sheikh Ariyibi     Umar Gunu     Aso-ofi     Dan Masanin     Mohammed Alabi Lawal     Agboola Abdulraheem     Lithium Deposit     Cassava Growers\' Association     Maigida Soludero Transit     Jaigbade Alao     Taibat Ayinke Ahmed     Salmon Babatunde Salmon     Leke Ogungbe     Alaiye     Olatunji Ayeni     UNIFEMGA     Yakub Lai Gobir     Hijaab     Saraki     Abdullahi Imam Abdullahi     Ejidongari     LABTOP     CLAY POT     Sulyman Atolagbe Alege     Abdul Jimoh Mohammed     Ahmed Bayero     Towoju     Ekiti     Olubukola Kifayat Adedeji     Victor Gbenga Yusuf     Sulyman Tejidini     Yahya Mohammed     Kwara 2019     Olatunde Olukoya     Olawuyi     Abdulsalam Firdaous Amosa     Nigeria Governors\' Forum     Babaloja-General     Sulaiman Gado     Shao     Sherif Sagaya     Age AbdulKareem