There is growing anxiety among politicians over secret moves by some members of President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet to retain their seats as ministers by the President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Investigations revealed that no less than 18 of them have reached a frenzied height with the pressure they are applying on Tinubu to include them in his cabinet list after May 29 inauguration.
According to the Guardian, a former Minister in Buhari’s first term confirmed that about 18 members of the present cabinet and older colleagues have indicated intentions to return under Tinubu.
Politics Nigeria gathered that some of the ministers are said to have sent eminent Nigerians to London and France to mount last-minute pressure on Tinubu to convince him about why they deserve to be a part of the new government.
Tinubu, who is expected back in the country before the inauguration, travelled to Europe on May 10 on a “working visit to fine-tune the transition plans and programmes, and his policy options with some of his key aides without unnecessary pressures and distractions.”
However, while some Ministers who have been in government these past eight years are intensifying their lobby on the President-elect and preaching ‘continuity’ to his inner circles, many Nigerians are looking forward to an injection of ‘fresh blood’ and ‘new faces’ to stimulate some rapid changes in governance.
Supporters of these ambitious ministers are arguing that the new government will need their experience to continue with the programmes and policies of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Tinubu had earlier hinted that competence and merit would be his major consideration in choosing his new cabinet members.
In a statement personally signed by him, the President-elect said: “In selecting my government, I shall not be weighed down by considerations extraneous to ability and performance. The day for political gamesmanship is long gone. I shall assemble competent men and women and young people from across Nigeria to build a safer, more prosperous, and just Nigeria.”
The ‘lobbying’ ministers are alleged to be the brains behind some of the unconfirmed ‘list of Tinubu’s ministers’ trending on social media to swing public opinions in their favour and test the waters.
