In The Closet | 17 September 2015 17:05 CET

Cold War As Obasanjo, Tinubu Brawl Over Ministerial Nominees

By BENEDICTA BASSEY/NEWSTRACK

The debate as regards President Muhammadu Buhari cabinet nominees was brought to fore on Thursday as Former President Olusegun Obasanjo and erstwhile Lagos State Governor, Senator Bola Tinubu, engaged on cold war.

The war ensued after a former Lagos State Commissioner for Finance, Mr Edun Wale as recommended by Tinubu into the cabinent was dropped to replaceda Mr Yemi Cardoso, as a Lagos Representative in the cabinet instead of the proposed Ogun state Tinubu noted him for.

It was leant that the Mr Edun had already passed the screening by the Department of State Services (DSS) before he was dropped following criticisms by a group of influential Lagos indigenes, Obasanjo and the Ogun state Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosu.

It was reliably gathered that Obasanjo had called Tinubu to advise him to stop pushing in for Edun as Ogun state Nominee because it would not yield fruit.
A presidency source disclosed to our correspondent that the submission of the ministerial list by Obasanjo to the president informed the September 9 visit of Tinubu and former Interim National Chairman of APC, Chief Bisi Akande, to Buhari, 24 hours after the former president visited.

“Tinubu and Akande's visit to President Buhari on September 9 was an impromptu meeting. An influential official in the presidency told them of Obasanjo's surreptitious moves to corner the ministerial nominees from the South-West.

As it is, Obasanjo has been given two ministerial slots of Ogun and Osun – Mustapha and Oyinlola – while Tinubu and South- West leaders would fill the four other slots remaining in the geopolitical zone.

One of sources said Buhari, who had promised to constitute his cabinet by September 30, would submit the ministerial list to the National Assembly next week In addition, it was learnt that the DSS had screened ministerial nominees and forwarded its report to the president.

Those who failed the integrity test had been replaced. It was learnt that Buhari had settled for former Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, as the nominee from the state; notwithstanding the opposition against his candidacy from top officials of the PDP government in the state made him to lost out the ministerial bid.

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