Exclusive: Gov Abdulrazaq sends first batch of commissioner – nominees list to KWHA

By Mumini AbdulKareem

Kwara State Governor, Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq has forwarded the
list of the first batch of commissioner nominees to the state House of
Assembly, National Pilot, can reliably report.
A top government official confirmed the development to this medium,
last night, adding that the names of the nominees will be read at the
plenary, this week.
This medium however could confirm, last night, the identity of those
shortlisted by Governor Abdulrazaq and the number.
Going by his style of governance, there have been speculations that
the Governor may decide to prone down the number of his cabinet in
order to reduce the cost of governance.
About 579 names comprising three each from the 193 wards in the state
were collated and submitted by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to
the Governor to serve as a pool from which he is expected to pick his
commissioners, Special Advisers, Senior Special Assistants and Special
Assistants.
According to the official, “What I can confirm to you is that some
names of commissioner -nominees have been sent to the House of
Assembly. But the Governor has kept the figures and their identity to
his chest.
“The Speaker is expected to read the names of some of the nominees
already sent to the House during plenary this week,” the source noted.
A lawmaker who doesn’t want to be named told this reporter that the
House may read the list of the nominees at the floor of the House on
Tuesday.
However, it was gathered that the decision by the Governor to keep the
names of the nominees under wraps was not unconnected with the intense
agitation and tension that the list has generated in the state chapter
of the APC with some stakeholders said to be “spoiling for war”
according to another source if the governor’s choices fail to reflect
the preferences of party stalwarts.
According to a very close aide of the one of the APC gubernatorial
aspirants from Kwara Central, the agitation and expectation among
party stakeholders concerning the list is so serious that the eventual
outcome will either make or mar Governor Abdulrazaq’s administration
if care is not taken.
The source said some notable party leaders in the state who accused
the Governor of singlehandedly running his administration without
carrying them along are eagerly looking forward to the cabinet list
before they decide on the next line of action whether to continue to
work with him (Governor) or not.
But a leader of the party and former gubernatorial aspirant, Moshood
Mustapha while reacting to the agitation that has trailed the issue
during a telephone chat last week noted that he will speak out if the
list was not reflective of the choices of stakeholders.
“The list is not out yet and I don’t see reason to be agitated
unnecessarily. I am sure it will take care of all the tendencies that
formed the APC at the end of the day. The Governor requested for the
list long time ago and I am sure he’s working on it. “So there will be
a lot of agitation and permutation in the system and that is exactly
what we are seeing. It is not unexpected… (and) we don’t see it as
anything special. There will always be a lot of horse trading,
bickering and some sycophants will come and say different things even
if they know it’s not true just to curry favour…
“Everybody fall under one tendency or the other in the APC during the
formation of the party and I am very sure he has collected names from
all tendencies, groups, shades of opinion and different leaders. This
is his (Governor Abdulrazaq) government and we should allow him to
come out with the list that is best suitable for him to run his
administration.
“When he comes out with the list, if some of us are not okay with it,
we will come out and say it. At the stakeholders’ level, we will ask
questions and if we don’t know any of them that made the list
eventfully and we believe they are people that have not participated,
some of us will talk”.
Recall that during a media parley with journalists in celebration of
his 100 days in office penultimate Thursday, the Governor hinted that
he will forward the list of his commissioner-nominees to the state
Assembly.