·
Power, works and housing
ministry may be split into three
·
Aviation and marine
transport may be hived off from transportation
·
Tinubu, APC
governors may get nominees
Omololu Ogunmade
In a move to keep to his promise to the chieftains and loyalists
of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to appoint more ministers to his
cabinet, President Muhammadu Buhari is considering a tentative proposal to
restructure some of the ministries, appoint eight new ministers to his cabinet
and reshuffle the cabinet, THISDAY has learnt.
Presidency sources privy to the proposal informed THISDAY monday
that the plan is to appoint eight new ministers who will all be politicians, to
accommodate the yearnings of his party members including its national leader,
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and at the same time position APC for the 2019 general
elections.
In order to
accommodate the eight new appointees to the cabinet, the plan is to get the
president to split the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing into three ministries
that will be manned by full ministers, and hived off the aviation and marine
transport units from the Ministry of Transportation.
One
minister will man Aviation and another may lead Marine Transportation.
A
presidency source who spoke on the issue said the proposal that has been sent
to the president provides for the appointment of eight new ministers, one
representing each of the six geopolitical zones in the country and one from
Lagos (who may be a nominee of Tinubu) and Kano State (who may be a nominee of
Rabiu Kwankwaso).
Fashola
is expected to retain Works and Road Transport, Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau
who is from Kano is expected to retain Ministry of Interior.
However,
Police Affairs may be hived off from the Ministry of Interior.
The
appointment of two more ministers from the two most populous states in the
country is strategic and is aimed at ensuring that the appointees from Lagos
and Kano play crucial roles in delivering both states to the APC in 2019.
The
source also revealed that with the split of the power and transportation
ministries, Fashola would most likely be made responsible for the newly created
Ministry of Works and Roads Infrastructure, an appointee from the North-east
geopolitical zone will be appointed to man the Ministry of Housing while an
appointee from either the North-central zone or the South-east will be handed
the Ministry of Power.
In
the case of the Ministry of Transportation, once it is split, the current
minister, Rotimi Amaechi, will be appointed to man the Ministry of Rail
Transportation while Hadi Sirika who is currently a Minister of State in the
transportation ministry (aviation) will most likely be made a full Minister of
Aviation.
Another
appointee will be given the Ministry of Marine Transport after it is hived off
from the transportation ministry.
All
the new appointments, said the source, will be done with the consultation of
state governors.
“The
proposal has been put together and sent to Mr. President for his final
approval. It remains tentative for now, but if it meets the approval of the
president, the announcement will be made public before the end of the month and
the names of the nominees will be sent to the Senate for confirmation,” the
source volunteered.
He
also disclosed that the proposal includes a cabinet reshuffle which could see
the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu redeployed to
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a new minister appointed to replace him as
minister of state while Buhari continues to hold on to the petroleum ministry
portfolio as the full minister.
At
the last meeting of the National Executive Committee of the APC held last month
in Abuja, Buhari had promised to appoint more ministers and members to the
boards of federal parastatals.
The
pledge was made to appease aggrieved members who had felt that they had been
ditched after helping the party to win the 2015 elections.
He
had said that the new appointees will be fit for purpose and will breathe new
life into the administration.
Although
Buhari has not yet publicly declared that he will run for a second term, the
move is also targeted at empowering strong politicians who can deliver critical
states during the 2019 elections.
THISDAY
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