Following the latest twist in the ministerial nominee list by President Bola Tinubu, the last-minute removal of Maryam Shetty from his cabinet list has generated mixed reactions.
According to Quest Times, the power tussle between the new All Progressives Congress (APC) chairman, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, and Seyi, the president’s son, is why Tinubu eventually removed Shetty from his cabinet list.
Shetty was a member of the Presidential Campaign Team for Tinubu before the 2023 elections.
According to sources, her contributions to the Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council were noteworthy.
“Shetty had become very well-known to individuals close to the APC flagbearer, Tinubu, especially right after the party primaries.
“It was because Seyi Tinubu could attest to her contributions and her father’s resolve to make young people cabinet ministers that made the president’s son add Shetty’s name to the ministerial list, which the Chief of Staff was compiling,” one of the sources said.
Despite lacking any public service experience or political background, Shetty’s nomination was supported by Seyi Tinubu and other young individuals in President Tinubu’s camp who viewed her as a young professional who belongs to no side in the ongoing Ganduje-Kwankwaso power play in the state.
Meanwhile, President Tinubu thought he had settled Kano state by picking Shetty, and Abdullahi T Gwarzo, his close ally who ran for Kano governor under the Action Congress of Nigeria in 2011, as both candidates aren’t prominent members of either Ganduje or Kwankwanso political blocs in Kano.
However, Shetty’s sudden emergence as a nominee sparked tensions in the camp of Ganduje, who felt insulted that he was not even consulted by Seyi nor the Chief of Staff before Shetty’s nomination.
He argued that he should have been consulted, as he could have nominated a female individual with a demonstrable and successful public service record from Kano.
His displeasure with Shetty’s nomination prompted him to approach President Tinubu and press for her removal right after he had been sworn in as the new APC Chairman.
Upon learning of the plot to remove her, Shetty attempted to gain favour with the former governor by posting pictures she had taken with him on social media.
Some of her political backers and friends also tried to rally support for her, but this only led to the promise by the president to offer her another good appointment soon.
In response to Ganduje’s stance, President Tinubu withdrew Shetty’s nomination and nominated Dr Mariya Mahmud Bunkure instead. Mariya served as a Commissioner for Higher Education in Kano.
Dr Bunkure and Dr Ganduje have a prior working relationship, as she served as Commissioner for Higher Education in his cabinet when he was the Executive Governor of Kano State during his second term from 2019-2023.
