JOSTLING FOR LUCRATIVE APPOINTMENTS HAS BEGUN UNDER THE TINUBU GOVERNMENT

Bola Ahmed Tinubu

Ahead of the upcoming inauguration on May 29, the race for senior seats in President-elect Bola Tinubu's cabinet has already begun.

The All Progressives Congress, APC, candidate was proclaimed the victor of the hotly contested presidential election by the Independent National Election Commission, INEC, on March 1.

Both Labour Party (LP) candidate Peter Obi and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Atiku Abubakar rejected the results and are contesting the victory in court.

Meanwhile, the APC and its supporters are preparing for Tinubu and his running mate, Senator Kashim Shettima, to be sworn in, adamant that the election was won legitimately.

President Muhammadu Buhari recently signed a bill into law, and in accordance with it, Tinubu must submit ministerial names to the Senate within 60 days of taking office.

According to information obtained by DAILY POST, there are two categories for nominations: presidential and ministerial, however one has at least three subcategories.

The Chief of Staff (CoS), Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Special Advisers (SAS), and Senior Special Assistants (SSAS) are among the positions that need to be filled under the presidency.

Party sources claimed that, among other things, consideration will be given to a candidate's qualifications, loyalty, work ethic, efforts throughout the campaign, and impact on Tinubu's election.

The following people have been listed as potential presidential and ministerial candidates:

Speaker of the House Femi Gbajabiamila Representatives' House. The attorney represents Lagos State's Surulere I seat and was first elected in 2003.

The current minister of housing and works, Babatunde Fashola, served as governor of Lagos State for two terms. During Tinubu's second stint as governor of Lagos, he served as his chief of staff.

James Faleke is a member of the House of Representatives and the secretary of the APC Presidential Campaign Council. He was first chosen to represent Lagos' Ikeja federal constituency in 2011.

The Chairman of the Nigeria Legion and the President's Think Tank on Defense and Security is Major General Abdulmalik Jibril (retired), Director of Intelligence and Security, PCC.

Ex-Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nuhu Ribadu. The Petroleum Revenue Task Force was led by the former police officer.

The two-term governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje, served as Rabiu Kwankwaso's deputy during his administration.

Nasir El-Rufai served as the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and was a two-term governor of Kaduna State. He served as the Bureau of Public Enterprises' Director General.

Bello Matawalle: The governor of Zamfara State previously represented the federal district of Bakura/Maradun in the House of Representatives. During the main election, he failed to win reelection.

Former Speaker of the House of Assembly and two-term governor of Plateau State Simon Lalong served as the APC Campaign Council's Director-General.

The Progressive Governors' Forum, or PGF, is led by Atiku Bagudu, a former senator and two-term governor of Kebbi State. He is a part of the PTC, or Presidential Transition Council.

Throughout Tinubu's time as governor, banker and Chapel Hill Denham Group chairman Wale Edun served as commissioner for finance. He belongs to the PTC.

Former two-term governor of Ekiti State Kayode Fayemi served as Minister of Mines and Steel Development under the Buhari administration.

Prior to joining the campaign council, Hadiza Bala Usman served as managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, or NPA.

Festus Keyamo, Senior Attorney-General of Nigeria. The current Minister of State for Labor and Employment is the APC PCC's Official Spokesman.

The party's former legal counsel, Babatunde Ogala, SAN, served as Director of Law of the Tinubu Campaign Organization.

Femi Fani-Kayode, PCC's director of special projects and new media, served as the president's special assistant on public affairs as well as minister of aviation, culture, and tourism.

Director of Strategic Communication at PCC, Dele Alake. Throughout Tinubu's time in office as governor, he served as Commissioner for Information and Strategy.

Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, was Bayo Onanuga, Director of Media and Publicity, PCC, under the Buhari administration.

Activist and attorney Hannatu Musawa worked as the APC Campaign Council's deputy director of public affairs.

The director of Tinubu's media office is Tunde Rahman. The creator of Western Post Newspaper is a former editor of Thisday.

Campaign directors Mohammed Idris, Strategic Communications, Aminu Jaji, Contact & Mobilization, Bello Goronyo, Youth Mobilization, Bobboi Kagama, Labour, Musa Babayo, Policy & Research, and Ade Omole, Diaspora, are further candidates who are likely to play a role.

In the meantime, animosity within the party is already rising across the states as candidates vie for posts in the upcoming government.

Party leaders are being suspended for a variety of reasons in several areas.

In many states, including Delta, Abia, and Enugu, party chieftains have recently either been ousted or suspended from office.

The NDDC Chairperson, Lauretta Onochi, and the APC's Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, who is running for governor of Delta, were both suspended.

Former Abia State Deputy Governor Dr. Chris Akomas, former Solid Minerals Minister Dr. Uche Ogah, former University of Calabar Provost Senator Nkechi Nwaogu, Executive Secretary of the National Land Development Agency (NALDA), Paul Ikonne, Hon. Sam Onuigbo, and other individuals were suspended in Abia State.

Former Enugu State Governor Sullivan Chime, Director-General of Voice of Nigeria Osita Okechukwu, and a number of other individuals were expelled, and former Senate President Ken Nnamani and Foreign Affairs Minister Geoffrey Onyeama were suspended for alleged anti-party activities.

Okechukwu while reacting to his suspension said, "The story of my kinsman Ugo Agbala is the story of a failed chairman quarrelling with himself. He came from PDP akin to a political bandit and hijacked our great party with the assistance of His Excellency, Hope Uzodinma, governor of Imo State.

"He drove all the stakeholders away and boasted he will quadruple the 56,000 we scored in the 2019 presidential election. Regrettably, he scored abysmally only 4,722. Instead of apologising, I cited his CV flying around at the president-elect's house and APC HQ.

"This is why he is telling childish lies against some of us who are foundation members of APC, who sold the only plot of land in Enugu during my gubernatorial election in 2011. Ironically then Agbala was in the comfort zone of PDP, while we were constructing the APC structure."