We are unaware, says presidency
A cold war is brewing between President Muhammadu Buhari and former President Olusegun Obasanjo as well as former Minister of Defence, Lt. Gen. T. Y. Danjuma over the constitution of the cabinet, New Telegraph has learnt. A top official of the All Progressives Congress (APC) confided in New Telegraph at the weekend that the president had been having a running battle with the duo who had been trying to push some candidates for cabinet positions. But the source added that the president, who enjoyed support from the duo during the run-up to the March 28 presidential election, was reluctant to accede to their proposals. It could not be independently ascertained who Danjuma wanted to be part of the cabinet, but it was gathered that the former Chief of Army Staff had sought to nominate a candidate to head the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.
On his part, Obasanjo had reportedly recommended former Head of Service, Mr. Steve Oronsaye, to the president for appointment as Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF). Oronsaye is currently facing trial for alleged fraud and has been admitted to bail on self-recognisance. But the president’s senior special assistant on media and publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, has claimed ignorance of such agreement between his principal and the former leaders. “I am not aware of that,” Shehu said in a response to our correspondent’s inquiries.
The source who said the APC leadership should not be blamed for the delay in the constitution of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), said there were other forces outside the ruling party that needed to be taken into consideration in the constitution of the cabinet. He said: “People blaming the APC leadership for everything are only ignorant of the workings of government. In our own case, no one should forget that we needed a pan-Nigerian support and we got it. “In that case, we cannot play the role of ingrates just because we have taken over government and power; we just need to bring all on board to ensure that we have a seamless sail in governance.
“But the only problem we are having is the insistence of some critical stakeholders on certain issues, for instance in the area of recommendations for appointments. “For instance, if the former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, wanted a certain Oronsaye as SGF and there are now challenges, we need to be careful in determining who will be without bruising the man’s ego. But that is not to say that it is not the president’s prerogative to appoint anyone as SGF. “In the same vein, can we ignore the contributions of General T. Y. (Danjuma)? He made tremendous input, especially in mobilising the Northern Christian minorities for the APC.
“So, if today the president says he will not appoint a substantive minister as against whatever deal, there must be some reciprocity even if what the General wanted is no longer possible,” he said. The president, who is likely to head the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, had said last week during a visit to the United States that his cabinet would not be ready until September. According to him, given the rot left behind by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that had ruled Nigerian since 1999, his administration has so much work to do to clean up the system so it could start on a clean slate.
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