The Nation Newspaper

Tag: ministerial slot

  • Faleke deserves ministerial slot

    SIR, The past days have witnessed political frenzy and a renewal of disharmony in the APC family in Kogi State, as a result of the jostling for the vacant ministerial slot for the state to which a national leader of the party was said to have nominated and endorsed Hon. James Abiodun Faleke. APC in the state was thrown into chaos following the nomination of the incumbent governor Alhaji Yahaya Bello to carry the party’s flag due to the unfortunate and untimely demise of Prince Abubakar Audu. But for the resolve of all parties involved to peacefully pursue and channel their grievances through the law court, the state would have been thrown into a theatre of bloodshed.

    Although some have argued that the West Senatorial District of the state have had a fair share in terms of federal appointments, having produced the most number of ministers in the history of the state, hence the need for other senatorial districts  to be considered. In as much as this line of argument is genuine, selection of a minister to fill in the vacant slot at the federal executive council should take into cognizance of the prevailing political configuration in the state. The Central Senatorial District currently holds the position of governor and the east occupies the seat of deputy governor; it would only be fair for the next minister to come from the west, given that the late minister, James Eneojo Ocholi hails from the East Senatorial District.

    Unity and reconciliation has eluded the state’s chapter of APC since the last gubernatorial election with the split of the party into the Yahaya Bello sympathizers and the Audu/Faleke group. The choice of Faleke who is the leader of that group as replacement for Ocholi wouldn’t be a bad idea. If anything, a ministerial appointment for the Audu/Faleke group would only open the door for a genuine and lasting reconciliation in the state’s chapter of the party. The governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello hasn’t been able to do much in running an all-inclusive government by practically extending an olive branch to the Audu/Faleke group and making policies and programmes that could enhance peace, unity and pacifying the aggrieved within the party.

    The need for President Muhammadu Buhari to dowse political tension in the confluence state by accepting the choice of Faleke therefore becomes inevitable and a step in the right direction, if stability and harmony is to be restored in the Kogi  branch of APC ahead of 2019 elections.

     

     

    • Hussain Obaro,

    Ilorin, Kwara State.

  • Forum seeks ministerial slot for FCT

    The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Indigenous Women Forum, under the aegis of GBAKKA, has called on the Federal Government to give the FCT indigenes a ministerial slot.

    GBAKKA is an acronym for the six area councils of Gwagwalada, Bwari, Kuje Kwali and Abuja Municipal.

    President of GBAKKA, Mrs. Rifkatu Chidawa made the call during a visit by some members to the secretariat of the National Council of Women Societies (NCWS) Abuja.

    Chidawa said there was need for Abuja indigenes to have a say and presence in the Federal Executive Cabinet like the other 36 states, adding that the indigenes have educated and qualified professionals that can occupy positions in government.

    She also called on the members of the National Assembly to review the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which will enable the people of the FCT have equal rights and be recognised as a state.

    “We are calling on the Federal Government that indigenes who are equally Nigerians should be given what is our right. We are citizens that have sacrificed so much for the growth and peace of this great nation.

    “Being women of the FCT indigenes and knowing that women dialogue, we are using this forum to press for our demands.

    “We want to be carried along and have a sense of belonging. We also add our voice to our people’s agitation and clamour for the Abuja people to have a say and presence in the Federal Executive Council like other states in Nigeria.

    Our lands are our oil wells. Our fathers and mothers before us bequeathed to us our ancestral land in furtherance of nationhood. Giving up one’s land to one’s country is the greatest price to pay by any citizen.

    “Abuja is bigger than seven states in terms of landmass and bigger in population than four states. It is estimated that about 4.5 million people live in Abuja, yet the inhabitants have no say in governance of this country.

    “As good as the All Progressives Congress (APC) government is, we say that the change will not be complete as long as indigenous people remain helpless, voiceless and their constitutional rights denied them,” she said.

    Nigeria’s Ambassador to Gambia and member of the group, Hon. Mrs. Esther John Audu also urged the Federal Government to consider the people of the FCT by providing a ministerial slot for them.

    “I expect consideration, justice and fairness to the indigenes of the FCT so that they can have equal rights as other Nigerians have.

    “The indigenes are people that have sacrificed a lot for the existence of the nation’s capital and development of our country Nigeria.

    “I call on all women to develop the talent God has given to them and make themselves available to serve the country when the need arises and do the best they can for their immediate families and the society.

    “A nation state cannot develop if a group of people are marginalised and their rights denied them,” she said.

    The President of NCWS, Mrs. Nkechi Okemiri Mba assured the FCT Indigenous Women Forum that their yearnings and agitation would be forwarded to the First Lady of the Federal Republic whom is the Grand Patron for Nigerian women.

    She commended the women for their peaceful agitation for a ministerial slot, assuring them that their demands would be given adequate consideration.

    Mba said: “I am very grateful with the visit and I am assuring you that your request will be granted.

  • Nsukka canvasses ministerial slot for Ezea

    Nsukka canvasses ministerial slot for Ezea

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu North has said that the Enugu State ministerial slot be given to the party’s standard bearer in the last governorship election, Chief Okey Ezea.

    It said the zonal committee met and elected Ezea as the nominee from Nsukka senatorial zone, maintaining that Ezea remained the best candidate  having been the party’s standard bearer.

    At a news conference, Chairman of APC Enugu North, Emecheta Ugwu, said since 1999, the zone had not produced a minister and ‘therefore for the purpose of justice, equity and good governance, we request that Nsukka senatorial zone be allowed to produce the next minister from Enugu State’.

    He urged members and leaders of APC in the state to support Ezea to ensure that ‘our party stands united and stronger’.

  • Give us FCT ministerial slot

    The President of the National Gade Youth Assembly (NGYA) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Comrade Baba Sani, has appealed to the incoming administration of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari to consider appointing a native of the territory as minister of the FCT.

    Sani, who spoke with newsmen in Abuja, said the original inhabitants of the territory have, over the years, not been privileged to be appointed into key positions at the centre.

    According to Sani, since the inception of democracy in 1999, natives of the territory that comprised nine ethnic groups have always been treated like second-class citizens in their ancestral home.

    He urged the president-elect to shun those urging him to appoint Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, as a minister of the FCT, saying there are qualified natives of the territory that can handle such position if given the opportunity.

    “The national Gade Youth Assembly also urges the president-elect, Muhammadu Buhari to shun those urging him to appoint Rabiu Kwankwaso, as FCT minister. Besides, such move is repugnant to national justice, equity and good conscience,” he said.

    The group further urged the incoming administration to set up a committee that would look into some uncompleted /abandoned projects, especially at the satellite towns, which he said has direct bearing on the lives of residents of the territory.

    “We also plead with the president-elect to cancel the land swap policy introduced by the outgoing FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed, because it has robbed the original inhabitants of their ancestral homes, inheritance and democratic rights,” he added.

  • ‘We’ll resist attempt to deny us ministerial slot’

    The delay in the appointment of ministers to replace those who were sacked by President Goodluck Jonathan is generating controversies in Kaduna State.

    The people of Southern Kaduna have said they will not accept any attempt to deny them a ministerial slot.

    It was gathered that there has been lobbying to ensure that the slot goes to the northern part of the state, but the umbrella body of the southern Kaduna people, the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU) has said it will resist any attempt to deny them the slot.

    Secretary of the Union Adamu Marshal said the ministerial slot should rightly be given to someone from southern Kaduna.

    Marshal said: “What we are asking for is our right. Go and check and you will find out that since 1999, we have contributed the largest number of votes to the PDP in Kaduna State.

    “Right now, the political equation in the state favours southern Kaduna to produce the minister if you want to be fair and just in appointments. Kaduna is divided into two politically, even though we have three senatorial districts.

    “The Vice President, the governor, the ambassador, the Secretary to the State Government, the Speaker of the House of Assembly and the Acting Chief Judge are all from the northern part. We only have the deputy governor and deputy speaker.

    “We have worked for the party and we deserve to be compensated. If you look at all the appointment from Kaduna State, Southern Kaduna has less than 30 per cent and that is not fair.

    “The President should address this issue before it is too late. We want a southern Kaduna man as the next minister.”

  • Ekiti PDP members disagree on ministerial slot

    There is a disagreement in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State on the nomination of Mr. Yinka Akerele for a ministerial slot.

    Sources said the party’s Deputy Chairman, Femi Bamisile, supported Akerele’s nomination but a group loyal to former Governor Ayodele Fayose opposed it.

    In a statement yesterday, PDP Publicity Secretary Pastor Kola Oluwawole, who happens to be Fayose’s aide, said the party had not received any letter from President Goodluck Jonathan saying any position was vacant and calling for nominations.

    Oluwawole’s rebuttal followed Bamisile’s statement in some national newspapers yesterday that the party had nominated Akerele for a ministerial position.

    Bamisile said: “Ekiti remains the only state in the Southwest that has never produced two ministers. It is time the state enjoyed that, since the current Minister of Police Affairs, Navy. Capt. Caleb Olubolade (rtd) is from Ekiti.”

    Oluwawole said: “No formal meeting was held to discuss such issue by the State Working Committee (SWC). We dissociate ourselves from such nomination because the party is not aware of any ministerial vacancy for Ekiti, in as much as we still have a serving minister. The Ekiti PDP SWC has not sat in any formal meeting in the last four weeks. Therefore, such purported nomination and publication is in the imagination of the publisher.”

    Bamisile yesterday insisted that the party was in support of Akerele’s nomination.