Why Buhari delays ministerial nominees

Fresh facts emerged yesterday on why President Muhammadu Buhari is yet to appoint his ministers and other key positions.

A source in the presidency told New Telegraph in Abuja that the fear of the All Progressives Congress (APC) senators rejecting the ministerial nominees for not meeting their expectations and that of other party leaders is a strong contributory factor why Buhari is yet to send the list to the Senate for consideration.

According to the source, “The president has told us on many occasions that his cabinet members would be people of integrity; that he would have political appointees who have never been implicated in corrupt practices in the past.

“And from the list of people that have been pencilled in for Senate approval, there is huge fear that the nominees may not pass through the Senate. The reason is that many of the nominees are not members of the APC. They are respected professionals from different disciplines.”

It was gathered that in order to assuage the acrimony the issue might generate, President Buhari has requested different groups within the party to nominate one special adviser each.

However, this option was said not to have gone down with APC’s leaders. “There are ongoing efforts to resolve the matter. For instance, powerful groups within the party have been requested to nominate one special adviser each and senior special assistants.

However, there are still some resistances to the request. We hope to settle the matter very soon,” the source added. Meanwhile, Buhari is said to have accepted the request from the Governor Nasiru el-Rufai-led group within the APC to accept the nomination of Mrs. Ifueko Omoigui- Okauru as Minister of Finance.

The nomination of the Edo State-born technocrat by a strong force within the APC was said to have been based on her competency and the administrative integrity she has displayed in her places of work in the past.

Between 2004 and 2012, Omoigui-Okauru served as Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and Chairman, Joint Tax Board.