The ministerial nominees include 12 persons who were ministers in the President’s first term in office while the remaining 31 nominees would become ministers for the first time under the current political dispensation.
Among the nominees include Hon. Emeka Nwajiuba, a serving lawmaker at the House of Representatives from Imo State. The federal lawmaker is the state's nominee in the ministerial list.
Hon. Emeka Nwajiuba was recently the beneficiary of a court verdict that ousted his predecessor, Hon. Chike Okafor of the APC. The court held that Okafor was not validly nominated by the APC. Hon. Nwajiuba will now have to resign his membership of the House of Representative in order to proceed as Minister.
It was really not surprising when Hon. Nwajiuba’s name surfaced, as one of the 43 ministerial nominees despite belonging to an opposition political party since he has long been known as a core Buharist. He is reputed to be a foundation member of the APC and was the secretary of the constitution drafting committee which produced the document that gave birth to APC.
From his brief presentation during the confirmation exercise by the Senate, It was clear to all and sundry that his appointment will be an added advantage to this administration and he will be an ambassador that Imolites will be proud of. He is no new comer to public service having served in different capacities until date and his records have always stood out everywhere he served.
In the 1st term of this administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, The slot for the minister representing Imo State in the Federal Executive Council was taken by Professor Anthony Anwukah, an In-law to the former Governor of Imo State, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, a former secretary to the Imo State government under Okorocha and the Former Vice Chancellor of Imo State University. Prof. Anwuka was assigned the portfolio of the Minister of State for Education, effectively the junior Minister in the Ministry. This appointment as a Junior minister and the accompanying skirmishes made Prof. Anwukah redundant with little influence on the activities of the ministry in his time there.
Recently, a list of Ministers-Designate with assigned Portfolios has being circulating on social media with Hon. Nwajiuba assigned the position of Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment. The Presidency has since, through the Personal Assistant to President Buhari on New Media, Bashir Hamad, debunked the list and asked the public to ignore same.
The purported list and subsequent the portfolio assignment has therefore necessitated that our movement, Imo Concerned Citizens, a non partisan pressure group aimed at promoting good governance make our position known in this regards.
While we understand that it is at the discretion of the President to assign the ministers-designates to any portfolio of his choice, We hope that he puts into consideration the wishes of the people to ensure that there is a sense of belonging for all concerned.
Since creation in 1976, Imo State has played a major role in the growth and development of Nigeria and therefore cannot be sidelined in the scheme of things especially as regards making major decisions as concerns the country.
We expect that after providing the slot of a junior Minister to the representative of Imo State in the First tenure of this administration, The President should provide a higher responsibility to the current Minister-Designate from Imo State to ensure that he is fully involved in the scheme of things and larger decision making process of this government and to avoid the limitations faced by the previous Imo State Representative in the President’s cabinet.
We trust that President Muhammadu Buhari will act favorably on this important issue raised.
Signed,
Hon. Roland N. Gabriel
Co-convener/State Chairman
Imo Concerned Citizens
Imoconcernedcitizens.imostate@gmail.com
Icc.newsupdate@gmail.com
Whatsapp and SMS: +2349060210904
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