EXCLUSIVE: Ganduje, El-Rufai, Gbajabiamila, Fashola, Others Jostle For Positions In Tinubu’s Govt As Nigeria’s ‘President Elect’ Disappears From Public View
EXCLUSIVE: Ganduje, El-Rufai, Gbajabiamila, Fashola, Others Jostle For Positions In Tinubu’s Govt As Nigeria’s ‘President Elect’ Disappears From Public View
Governors Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano and Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna are currently jostling for a place in the cabinet of the ‘President-elect’, Bola Tinubu, SaharaReporters has gathered.
Also lobbying to become chief of staff to the ‘President-elect’ are the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila and Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola.
Tinubu was on 1 March declared the winner of the February 25 presidential election by the electoral body, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) after securing a majority of votes cast and 25 per cent of votes cast in 29 states.
He defeated Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, Peter Obi of the Labour Party and 15 other candidates.
Ibom Focus had earlier reported how Tinubu travelled to Europe to seek medical care after falling ill after the polls.
Confirming the story, the ‘President-elect’ said he travelled to Paris, France would later be going to the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia to rest and plan the transition programme.
However, the ailing former Lagos governor has not been seen in public since his trip abroad with no known date as to when he would return.
Speaking on Friday, a source said some serving and past governors have also indicated an interest in various ministerial positions.
Tinubu is expected to send the list of his ministers to the National Assembly within 60 days of his inauguration.
President Muhammadu Buhari recently signed a bill that requires the president and governors to submit the names of persons nominated as ministers or commissioners within 60 days of taking the oath of office for confirmation by the Senate or state house of assembly.
“Kano Governor Ganduje wants to be the Federal Capital Territory minister, El-Rufai wants the NSA (National Security Adviser) position, Fashola and Gbajabiamila want the Chief of Staff position.
“Wale Edun wants to be the Minister of Finance while Governor Bagudu wants to be the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria,” the source said.
When Tinubu was the Lagos governor between 1999 and 2007, Edun held the position of commissioner for finance in the state.
Kaduna State under El-Rufai has been one of the most terrorised states in the country, with bandits roaming free, killing, kidnapping and wreaking all forms of havoc.
Meanwhile, over the years, Bagudu has been in the news for the wrong reasons, one of which was connected to moves by the US to help Nigeria repatriate millions of dollars from the British Island of Jersey.
The funds were part of the billions of dollars traced to Sani Abacha, the late military dictator who ruled Nigeria from November 1993 till his sudden death in June 1998, and his associates.
Shortly after the agreement was signed in the US, Bloomberg wire service reported that officials of the US Department of Justice (DoJ) kicked against plans by the Nigerian government to return $100 million to Bagudu from the Abacha loot.
The DoJ said in a February 3, 2020 statement that the Kebbi governor was part of a network controlled by Abacha that “embezzled, misappropriated and extorted billions from the government of Nigeria”.
Bagudu was said to have created anonymous companies in the British Virgin Islands and other financial havens.
His offshore network system relied on a sprawling global industry of bankers, investment portfolio managers and go-betweens who worked together to protect his stolen wealth.
He also reportedly used anonymous companies, investment trusts and other paper entities to create complex structures to disguise the origins of Abacha’s dirty money.
