Political pundits and other critical stakeholders have been left in shock following the assigning of portfolios for ministers-designate by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
OsunDailyNG gathered that many people were left in shock after Tinubu assigned portfolios to individuals who many believe are not experts in that field.
The appointment of former Rivers State Nyesom Wike, for instance, altered the earlier permutation that Abubakar Kyari from Borno State would be named Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Wike’s appointment makes it the first time since 1999, and in over 40 years, a Southern Christian would be named substantive FCT minister.
“Whereas, the North West and North East have repeatedly produced six FCT ministers since 1999, shutting out the other four geopolitical zones,” a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) told Saturday Sun.
Umahi’s appointment similarly came to many as a surprise. Since 1999, no South Easterner has served as Minister of Works. Only South-South, North-West, and South-West have served as Works ministers.
A presidency source said: “For many pundits, the biggest upset was the appointment of Dele Alake as Minister of Solid Minerals. Only few could have seen that coming, as everyone had expected that he would be taken to his natural habitat – the Ministry of Information. That is not to say that he cannot perform as Minister of Solid Minerals Development, but the shock generated by the appointment is still reverberating in the polity.
“Alake’s troubles were orchestrated by some members of the inner caucus of Tinubu’s kitchen cabinet – I don’t want to mention names. But these people seem to be uncomfortable with what they saw as Alake’s ambitious posturing.”
Questions have been raised about Festus Keyamo, a lawyer and human rights activist, who was sent to head the Aviation Ministry.
“As former Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nigerians had expected he would be named as substantive Minister of Labour. Instead, Lalong, who was at loggerheads with civil servants in Plateau State and was unable to clear backlogs of salaries before he left office as governor, was named to head Labour Ministry. How he will make a success of the job remains to be seen,” a former senator who headed the Labour Committee told Saturday Sun.
“Imagine Badaru with no military experience, was named Defence minister. And who is the Minister of State for Defence? Bello Matawalle, former governor of Zamfara State who, battled the invasion of the state by terrorists without success! How will that perform in that office? Is that a reward for incompetence?
“The unbundling of the Transportation Ministry and the appointment of Oyetola by Tinubu as minister in charge also came as a surprise,” another APC member noted.
Some stakeholders also disclosed that they expected Oyetola would be named Minister of Interior or Minister of Trade.
An APC member from the South West said: “Adelabu, a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), was surprisingly named minister of Power. With his cognate experience as a banker, Nigerians had expected he would head the National Planning Ministry.”
