By Ifeanyi Maduako
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu would make his ministerial appointments within 60 days from the day he was sworn in on May 29. Unlike President Muhammadu Buhari who dilly-dallied for over six months before he could form his cabinet in his first term, the extant constitutional provision does not grant President Tinubu such latitude. It is also constitutional that each state must have at least a ministerial nominee. Therefore, the 36 states of the federation must get a ministerial slot whether they voted for Tinubu or not.
Politicians have been making frenzied movements to the presidential villa to lobby for these ministerial slots. These politicians include former governors and former lawmakers. There’s nothing wrong in lobbying for appointments. However, merit should be the primary criterion in the consideration of those the president would appoint as ministers.
In the case of Rivers State, the state being a non-All Progressives Congress (APC)-controlled state, is most likely to get a single ministerial slot in accordance with the constitutional requirement, unless it gets another slot which should be at the discretion or prerogative of the President.
Tinubu may have won Rivers State during the presidential election, but if he didn’t emerge as the Presidential candidate of his party, somebody like the immediate past governor of the state, Nyesom Wike, who is now claiming to have enabled Tinubu’s victory in Rivers State during the presidential election wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do so. Senator Magnus Ngei Abe has been a Tinubu loyalist for a very long time. He played a very crucial or prominent role in delivering a sizeable chunk of delegates’ votes from Rivers State and even the South-South region during the APC presidential primary election despite the fact that former minister of transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, from Rivers State contested the presidential primaries against Tinubu.
Wike’s recurring claims to be the face of Tinubu’s victory in Rivers State is opportunistic. Without Rivers State’s about 214,000 votes as recorded by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Tinubu would have still been declared the winner of the presidential election having scored the majority votes and 25 per cent in 29 states of the federation. Rivers State only made it to 30 states where he got 25 per cent. The constitutional requirement is 25 per cent in 24 states of the federation plus the Federal Capital Territory.
Wike should not displace Senator Abe for the ministerial slot. He has been in the corridors of power since 1999 as a local council chairman, chief of staff to a state governor, minister and governor for eight solid years. Cumulatively, he has been in the corridors of power for a total of 24 years. He must not always be in either elective or appointive position.
Even Tinubu himself was out of the corridors of power since 2007, when he left office as the governor of Lagos State before he was elected as President in 2023. This means that Tinubu was out of any elective or appointive position for 16 years before he got elected as the president of Nigeria this year. Wike should emulate Tinubu and give others a chance to serve Nigeria. He must not always hijack every position to himself. He should take a break from elective or appointive positions at least for the next four years. He could elect to play an advisory role to the President in an honorary capacity.
Senator Magnus Abe led the troops for Tinubu in Rivers State during the presidential primary election. He deserves to take the slot of Rivers State for the ministerial position. He has the capacity, experience and political sagacity to fill the Rivers slot. Having been a state legislator, commissioner, secretary to the state government and a two-time senator, Magnus Abe has all it takes to be the new face of Tinubu in Rivers State. If Rotimi Amaechi or former vice president Yemi Osinbajo had defeated Tinubu during the primaries, opportunists who are now claiming to love Tinubu more than God, would be nowhere near him today. In the alternative, Tinubu can give Wike an ambassadorial appointment of Grade A level. He should be far away from the state for peace to reign.
• Maduako writes from Owerri via [email protected]