Ministerial list: Uncertainty over Amaechi, Fashola, Fayemi

Ministerial list: Uncertainty over Amaechi, Fashola, Fayemi
By Mike Odiakose  /   October 4, 2015  /   No Comments




 


fayemiUncertainty has enveloped
 the purported inclusion of former
 Governors Rotimi Amaechi of
 Rivers State, Babatunde Fashola
 of Lagos State and Kayode
 Fayemi of Ekiti state in the list of
 ministerial nominees transmitted
 to the Senate last Wednesday by
 President Muhammadu Buhari.
 Earlier reports from security
 sources suggest that the trio
 failed security test over some
 controversies surrounding the
 handling of public funds during
 their tenure as governors.
 Amaechi did not appear before
 the Rivers State Commission
 of Inquiry, headed by Justice
 George Omereji, to respond to
 charges of misuse of state funds
 running into several billions and
 other actions of his government
 on matters such as the status
 of the power assets of the state,
 the proposed Justice Adolphus
 Karibi Whyte Hospital, Olympia
 Hotel and others.
 Rather than defend himself
 before the Judicial Commission
 of Inquiry, Amaechi approached
 a High Court in Port Harcourt to
 stop the commission but Justice
 Simeon Amadi, in his ruling,
 said the commission should go
 ahead with the investigation,
 noting that it was not looking
 into the private life of Amaechi
 but his activities as governor
 and, to that extent, as they
 affected Rivers people.
 Former Lagos state governor,
 Fashola, was recently put on the
 spot by his successor when the
 Lagos State government released
 the whooping amount Fashola
 spent in updating his personal
 websites and construction of two
 boreholes.
 Our findings revealed
 that when the three former
 governors were listed among
 the list of ministerial nominees,
 the revelation caused disquiet
 within the presidency and the
 All Progressives Congress as
 Nigerians queried the sincerity
 of the Buhari administration to tackle corruption.
 Our sources revealed that
 President Buhari had insisted that
 the Department of State Security
 must not clear any nominee that
 is having any corruption case
 hanging on their head.
 According to one of our sources,
 who is also on the list of the
 ministerial nominees after being
 cleared by the DSS, the Nigerian
 leader is uncompromising that
 any one that has any case or
 petition pending before any of
 the anti-graft agencies must clear
 themselves before he will give
 them any appointment.
 Some political leaders had
 reacted negatively to the reported
 inclusion of some politicians that
 have questions to answer on the
 ministerial list.
 According to reports, the
 presidential candidate of the
 National Conscience Party in
 the last general elections, Chief
 Martin Onovo wondered why
 Buhari took so long in appointing
 ministers when he knew that
 he would still nominate those
 who had integrity and moral
 questions to answer.
 In his own reaction the Labour
 Party National Secretary, Kayode
 Ajulo said the ministerial list fell
 short of the expectation of many
 Nigerians.
 A rights activist and political
 analyst, Olawale Famurewa, said
 he and many other Nigerians
 would be disappointed if Buhari
 failed to appoint people with
 clean records after many months
 of waiting.
 Worried by the negative public
 reaction to the inclusion of some
 former public officers that are
 facing integrity test on the list of
 ministerial nominees, the APC at
 the weekend advised Nigerians
 not to accept in its entirety the list
 being circulated around and wait
 till the Senate resumes this week.
 According to the APC national
 publicity secretary, Alhaji Lai
 Mohammed, “Unfortunately,
 the Senate is yet to read the list,
 so whatever you read anywhere
 is mere speculation. Not until
 the Senate President reads out
 the list on Tuesday, it will be too
 premature for anybody to start
 making a comment on who and
 who is on the list,” he said.
pilot newspapers