Fallout of Ministerial list: Osinbajo, Tinubu, Akande to meet Buhari over protest in Kwara

By Mumini AbdulKareem

The disquiet that had trailed the ministerial nominations of Senator Gbemisola Saraki and former minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has attracted the intervention of top national leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC), National Pilot, has learnt.
The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, national leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and former acting national chairman of the party, Chief Bisi Akande are some of the prominent leaders in the party that have agreed to meet President Muhammadu Buhari over the grievances the issue has generated in Kwara State.
Top among the leaders of the APC on whose behalf the national leaders have agreed to intervene is the former chairman of the Federal Character Commission (FCC), Prof. Shuaib Oba Abdulraheem.
Abdulraheem, a top contender for ministerial appointment, was said to have been highly disappointed losing the Kwara Central slot to Gbemi Saraki in the federal cabinet especially at a time the state was considered for two ministerial appointments.
Her emergence reportedly rattled top members of the APC in the state last week with the camp of the former University of Ilorin Vice Chancellor calling on the president to revisit the issue in order to avert crisis in the party during the next rounds of election.
But according to reliably sources in the APC who confided in this reporter over the issue at the weekend, the Vice President, Bisi Akande and Tinubu have concluded move to meet with the President with a view to pacify Prof Oba and other leaders of the party who felt embittered with the development.
One of the sources who spoke on the issue said the Vice President and Bisi Akande were not happy when the matter was brought to their attention especially for the role Prof Oba played in the re-election of Mr President as the state Coordinator of the Presidential Campaign.
The source said when the matter was brought to Asiwaju Tinubu, the former Lagos governor was not thrilled by Prof Oba’s alleged obsession with the ministerial appointment adding that there are still many positions that are yet to be announced where retired academician can find rewarding than ministerial appointment.
Another source who is also conversant with the development said Chief Akande felt the president should have consulted with Prof Oba before picking his ministerial nominees especially from Kwara Central.
“Akande was of the opinion that Prof Oba should have been accorded more respect on the issue of the appointment and that he should have even been given the opportunity to suggest names for Kwara.
“The leaders felt he has also served the party well in the period of struggle and have not been found wanting in the position he held in the past including how he coordinated the state for the president’s re-election.
“The leader however concluded to see the President with a view to appointing Prof Oba and others in the party equally aggrieved over the issue from the state in the next set of appointments by the Mr President”, the party chieftain added.
Prof Oba did not pick calls for comment on his alleged protest over the ministerial issue and did not reply text message sent to him last week.
Following nomination of Gbemi Saraki and Lai Mohammed, Prof Oba in a statement he was  unbroken describing his failure to be nominated as setback.
Also the Kwara State chapter of the APC through its Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Tajudeen Aro, told this reporter in a telephone chat that the complaints that had trailed the nomination was a true representation of all members of the party.

…Gbemi’s nomination divides APC
By Mumini AbdulKareem
The nomination of Senator Gbemisola Saraki for ministerial appointment by President Muhammdu Buhari has divided the Kwara State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as groups within the party have disagreed over the decision.
According to Kwara Political Caucus, an APC group, the appointment of Gbemi as a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria will serve as an opportunity to return the dynasty back to government in Kwara State.
In a statement jointly signed by its Chairman and Secretary, Yusuf Muhammed and Buhari Aliyu respectively, the caucus expressed deep worry over the development adding that it will subsequently restore the Saraki dynasty in government.
It therefore called for her replacement.
However, another APC group, Kwara New Era Movement, has thrown its weight behind the nomination of the younger Saraki as a minister in the cabinet of President Buhari.
The group, therefore, took a swipe at those kicking against the former lawmaker, alleging that they were acting the script of some elements hell-bent in creating disaffection in the ruling party.
At a media briefing held at the secretariat of the group along Alore, Ilorin, the state capital, yesterday, its President, Tajudeen Abojumeji and a stakeholder of the party, Engr. Yusuf Obalowu, stated that they had followed the negative criticism that trailed the nomination of Gbemisola Saraki, which they described as unnecessary.
The duo, who addressed reporters separately, said the President committed no offence in picking Gbemisola for ministerial slot, adding that it was deserving in view of her past records and antecedents.
Abojumeji described the nomination of the duo of Gbemisola Saraki and Lai Mohammed as uncommon gesture in the history of the state and pledged the support of the group to the choice of Gbemisola, pointing out that her achievements in the past had built confidence in the people that she would do better if given another opportunity.
“We, the good people of Kwara New Era Movement wish to use this opportunity to express our deep appreciation to our dear President Muhammadu Buhari for finding our daughter and brother Senator Gbemisola Saraki and Alhaji Lai Mohammed worthy to be nominated as Ministers. We consider it as an uncommon gesture in the history of our dear Kwara State.
In his view, Obalowu told Journalists that the group had discovered some elements under sponsorship of some forces, who were out to disparage and launch a campaign of calumny against the former female lawmaker.
He said, “We discovered that there were some unknown elements that were trying to cause disharmony and disunity in Kwara regarding the nomination of Senator Gbemisola Saraki and we feel that being a citizen and bonafide daughter of Ajikobi in Ilorin, we want to tell fellow Nigerians and Kwarans that there was no iota of truth in what anybody was saying about Senator Gbemisola Saraki”.