Yar’adua’s nephew makes list

President Umaru Yar’adua’s nephew Alhaji Murtala Yar’adua ended up yesterday in the list of 25 ministerial nominees sent to the Senate by Acting President Goodluck Jonathan for screening and possible confirmation. Alhaji Murtala is the Tafidan Katsina and eldest son of the president’s late senior brother, Major General Shehu Yar’adua.

Daily Trust gathered that 7 of the ministers in the recently dissolved cabinet made it back while 18 others were either fresh faces in the cabinet or were former ministers in Yar’adua’s first cabinet, which was reconstituted in 2008.

Ministers in the recently dissolved cabinet who bounced back yesterday include former Minister of Mines and Steel Development Mrs. Diezani Allison Madueke (Bayelsa), former Minister of State for Power Arc. Nuhu Somo Wya (Kaduna), former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Odein Ajumogobia (Rivers) and former Minister of State for Agriculture, Mrs. Fidelia Akubata Njeze (Enugu).

Also bouncing back were former Attorney General and Minister of Justice Adetokunbo Kayode (Ondo), former Minister of Youth Development Chief Akinlabi Olasunkanmi (Osun) and the former Minister of State for Niger Delta Godsday Orubebe (Delta).

Apart from Murtala Yar’adua, the new ministerial nominees include Mrs. Josephine Anenih [Anambra], wife of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain Chief Tony Anenih, and former deputy governor of Nasarawa State, Mr. Labaran Maku.

Others on the list are the Vice Chancellor of Kebbi State University, Prof. M. K. Abubakar; former Managing Director of New Nigerian Newspapers Mr. Ndanusa Alao (Kogi) and Senator Bala Mohammed Duguri (Bauchi).

Also on the list are Mrs. Josephine Tapgun (Plateau), wife of Third Republic governor and former federal minister Chief Fidelis Tapgun; former Bayelsa State Military Administrator, Navy Capt. N. S. Olubolade (Ondo), Chris Ogiewonyi (Edo), Managing Director of Goldman Sachs London Olusegun Olutoyin Aganga (Lagos), Mr. Nduese Essien (Akwa Ibom), Alhaji Umaru Aliyu (Taraba); Alhaji Abubakar Sadiq Mohammed (Gombe), who is the Chief of Staff to Deputy house of Representatives Speaker Usman Bayero Nafada; Suleiman Bello, Chukwuemeka Nwogu (Abia), Bello Adoke (SAN) and Capt. Ernest Odebola. Also on the list is former Minister of National Planning Senator Mohammed Sanusi Daggash, who was removed by President Yar’adua in the first cabinet reshuffle in 2008.

It was learnt yesterday night that political consultations were still on as to the nominations of former House of Representatives Chief Whip Abubakar Bawa Bwari (Niger), former Minister of State for Agriculture Alhaji Adamu Maina Waziri (Yobe) and Rep Terngu Tsegba (Benue) to join the ministerial list.

Senate has decided to postpone its recess by one week to screen and consider the ministerial nominees.

Briefing newsmen shortly after yesterday’s plenary session in anticipation of the ministerial list, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Information and Media Senator Ayogu Eze (PDP, Enugu North) said, “We are hoping of getting the list this week, hopefully tomorrow or the day after and then we will take it up next week.

“In anticipation of that and in fulfilment of our obligation and commitment to the people of Nigeria we cut our holiday short by one week, so instead of starting on the 26th our holiday will now start by on the 2nd of April, so we have sacrifice one week to wait for the list and make sure we screen them as soon as they come and make sure that the Acting President has the number ministers and the assistance that he needs to deliver on the work at hand.

“We are staying back specifically to finish the work of this Constitution and then finish the issue of ministerial nominee and we are expecting that will come shortly, tomorrow or after tomorrow.”

Meanwhile, state governors continued to troop into the State House yesterday as part of last minute bids to protect the names of their loyalists. About eight governors thronged to the State House in the early hours of yesterday and waited for Jonathan, who came to the office in the afternoon.

A source who confided in our correspondent said, “There presence here is not unconnected to the main issue in town, that is the matter of the new ministers whose names are being submitted to the Senate. Of course, no one takes anything for granted and for fear that anything may happen, the governors had to come and ensure the names they submitted are intact.”

According to the source, the acting leader may surprise many of the governors by dropping their choices for his preferred candidates.

The governors who were at the villa yesterday include Mohamed Namadi Sambo of Kaduna, Isa Yuguda of Bauchi, Ibrahim Shema of Katsina, Sullivan Chime of Enugu, Theodore Orji of Abia, Peter Obi of Anambra, Gbenga Daniel of Ogun, Martin Elechi of Ebonyi and Ikedi Ohakim of Imo. While the South East governors met Jonathan as a group, their colleagues from Bauchi, Katsina and Ogun met him separately.

Daily Trust also gathered yesterday from good authority in the presidency that former Speaker of the House of Representative Aminu Bello Masari, former Bauchi State Deputy Governor Mahmud Abdulmalik and Elder Godsday Orubebe have been nominated by Jonathan as zonal representatives of North-West, North-East and South-South respectively.

In the case of Bauchi, it was gathered that Yuguda was not comfortable with Senator Bala Mohammed Duguri as a nominee from the state.

Duguri, an ANPP senator from Bauchi, was an ally of Yuguda until last year when they parted ways following Yuguda’s decamping to the PDP. Reports say Duguri is being paid with a ministerial appointment for his key role in the elevation of Jonathan to Acting President by the National Assembly.

However, Daily Trust learnt that Shema was also at the Villa to push for one out of the three nominees he submitted. Reports said Shema had nominated his close confidants, the Commissioner for Works Architect Musa Sada, Ali Hussaini Dutsinma, former Group Managing Director of the NNPC Abubakar Lawal Yar’adua and Kabir Saidu Daura. Daura is said to be a close ally of the National Security Adviser, Gen. Aliyu Gusau.

Briefing State House correspondents on behalf of the South East governors, Obi said they were in the Villa to register their concern over lack of Federal Government projects and the rising insecurity in the region.

“The reason why we are here is to discuss about some of the issues bothering the South-East region. You can see that they are peculiar to the South East. One of them is the issue of erosion. And as you know last year, the Federal Government declared the entire South East a disaster area and promised to intervene which actually formed a committee led by the acting president. That was one of the reasons why we are here. The other issue is that of the second Niger Bridge. The second Niger Bridge, as you know built several years ago is collapsing. The ministry of works, the Senate and House committees on works and the contractors handling the projects have said that the bridge is not safe and there is an urgent need to start the construction of the second Niger bridge. And again the issue of security. As you know most of the governors in the south east are spending fortunes to keep the police and other security agencies but we found out that the hoodlums’ firepower is more than that of the police.”