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John Adams, Minna
As Nigerians and various interest groups continue to react to the appointments of the newly inaugurated federal ministers by President Muhammadu Buhari, the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Niger State has expressed reservations over the junior ministerial position alloted to the state.
State party leader and former Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Honorable Jonathan Vatsa, who spoke to newsmen in Minna at the weekend, said that the state felt shortchanged by the junior minister position in view of what he cited as its contribution to the national party’s victory in the 2015 and 2019 general elections.
The former Niger APC publicity secretary believed that the state deserved more than what it got, stressing that “in 2015 we dismantled all the opposition parties structures in the state and made it a 100 percent APC state.
“Also in 2019, we worked tirelessly and repeated the same feet, and overwhelmingly delivered the state at all levels in the elections. But unfortunately the only thing we got for our efforts was junior ministers in 2015 and 2019.
“In 2015, Bawa Buhari was given Minister of State for Solid Mineral Resources, and now in 2019 Ambassador Zubairu Dada has been asked to take the Ministry of State for Forreign Affairs.”
Hon. Vatsa argued that states that could not boast of a single seat delivered to the party in the two elections were rewarded with either senior minister or two ministerial positions.
According to him, “In 2015, after all our efforts, we were given a junior minister; in 2019, again, are being rewarded with another junior minister despite the fact that we delivered the state to the party at all levels a 100 percent.
“It beats my imagination that a non APC state that contributed little or nothing to the party during the elections is being rewarded with two ministerial slots. Even some APC states that did not perform like Niger State in the elections were rewarded with senior minister’s positions.
“We feel shortchanged as a state because hard work was not rewarded and, above all, equity, justice and f fair play were overlooked in the allocation of ministerial portfolios by Mr President,” Vatsa complained.
He noted that just as Niger Deltans are routinely appointed to head the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, Niger State, as the largest net contributor to the country’s energy base, ought to have have an indigene heading the Ministry of Power.
“The state is playing host to the three hydro electric dams that is contributing over 70 percent of energy requirement of the country, in addition to the Zungeru Dam, which is under construction. So, therefore, we should be allowed to oversee the power ministry.
“But, If it is not power, it should have been Ministry of Federal Capital Territory, because Niger State sacrificed 90 percent of lands that make up Abuja today without adequate compensation,” he argued.
