 |
| Kwara APC hails Buhari for Lai Mohammed's reappointment as minister. |
President Buhari's technocrats of 2015 obviously didn't live upto expectations and had to give way for others to sneak in, about 31 of them actually. This means the likes of Godswill Akpabio, Sen. Gbemisola Saraki ( Sen. Bukola Saraki's sibling), Festus Keyamo SAN and 28 others made Buhari's new batch of 'next level' technocrats.
And no, it's not only you! Assuming of course, you're one of those who have issues with the new list of technocrats.
Following a disastrous first term in office where trillions of budgeted funds could not be translated into visible achievements across the country, it is understandable that Nigerians have high expectations, that President Buhari might probably get his cabinet right this time. But it turns out the president sees things differently. That his ardent followers now question the president's ability to make good decisions, summed it all.
If your problem is Godswill Akpabio or Festus Keyamo, others especially those in Kwara State are questioning the choice of Gbemisola Saraki by the president. And when you go deeper into the list, almost all the nominees have issues from the states whence they came. But the case Gbemisola Saraki is a bit different.
Some political folks from the APC in Kwara State seem uncomfortable with the choice of Gbemisola saying they simply do not want any member of the Saraki dynasty to represent the State in any political office at the federal level. They described the Saraki era as 'Nightmarish' and 'dark days', and do not want the people of the State to have that experience over again.
The group's Chairman and Secretary Yusuf Mohamnmed said if they had their way with President Buhari, “we would have preferred another person from the state to replace Senator Gbemisola Saraki in order to save the people of the state the nightmare of going back to the dark days of the Saraki’s reign again.”
They hailed the president for re-nominating Alhaji Lai Mohammed as minister-designate, adding that “we wish however, like to state that we have received the nomination of Senator Gbemisola Saraki with mixed feelings
“We are very apprehensive of the fact that as the saying goes, ‘blood is thicker than water.’ Therefore, we are afraid that the appointment of Senator Gbemisola Saraki as a minister, is likely to bring back the sad memories of the retrogressive political activities of the Saraki
dynasty, which impacted negatively on the lives of majority of the people of the state.
“We are of the believe that we have been able to defeat and wean ourselves from the Saraki’s negative political influences and strongholds that have left bitter and sour tastes in the mouths of
majority of the people of the state during the divinely inspired victory of the people in the last general elections in the state.
“However, we are now very worried and unhappy that the appointment of Senator Gbemisola Saraki as a minster, would most likely provide easy access and platform, which shall be employed to bring back this era of the misrule and financial rape that were imposed on us in Kwara state, during the past 16 years of political control by the Saraki dynasty which Senator Gbemisola Saraki was also an active participant.”
It is unknown how Buhari came about the choice of his cabinet members. He said most of those he worked with in his first term where unknown to him, and that he won't repeat same mistake again. Unless, by Buhari's standard, Gbemisola turns out to be a mistake, Kwara APC’s complaints are sure to fall into deaf ears.
