By Eric Elezuo

On Monday, August 21, 2023, President Bola Tinubu will swear in 45 men and women, who by fait accompli, have been screened and cleared by the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Godswill Akpabio-led Senate. The soon-to-be ministers will be mandated with the task of bringing to fruition Tinubu’s plans of renewing the hopes of Nigerians, towards bringing them out of the eight years quagmire of past president Muhammadu Buhari, which has inadvertently continued three months into the new administration.

But analysts, stakeholders and observers in the Nigerian political system have argued on the potential of the nominated ministers and the real intentions behind their selection to work in with the Nigerian leader.

A cross section of Nigerians, who had earlier expressed hope at the coming of the ministers, many weeks after inauguration, have expressed disappointment however, noting there was nothing spectacular among the nominees, and wondered why it took so long to recycle the same individuals already known to the public. They argued that it was a list of known friends and loyalists of the president, adding that the president is using sensitive positions for nation building to say thank you and massage the ego of loyalists, who played one role or another to ensure the his emergence at the Presidential polls.

In Tinubu’s list are nine immediate past governors including former governor of Rivers State, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who fell out with his party, and did all he could to scrape Rivers State for Tinubu; a victory that most Nigerians have dismissed as dubious. But Wike has been paid for his efforts, first, as a ministerial nominee, and now as a the substantive Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Wike is seen as a voracious politician, who can hold his own in whatever circumstance either by omission or commission; legitimate or otherwise. It is therefore, on this background that his appointment into ministerial position is necessary, and more important to be seconded to Abuja, where Tinubu failed to obtain 25 percent vote, which many believe is mandatory for anyone else to be declared President. The matter is however, subjudice asnit is being contested in the court of law presently.

Stakeholders have not minced words in claiming that Wike’s allocation of Abuja as a ministerial duty is Tinubu’s way of consolidation should there be a rerun as regards his inability to obtain 25 percent in the previous election.

“It is not hard to imagine that Tinubu needed a strong and voracious politician like Wike in Abuja to consolidate his chances should the court nullify his election and order a rerun.

“The same situation goes for the recycling of old politicians in sensitive ministeries. The reasons are not farfetched; the president needs them to achieve an opportunity to legitimize his government through the polls if the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal should void the 2023 presidential election. So, this list of ministers are not in anyway programmed to resuscitate that ailing economy, but to be on ground for the hatchet job in case a rerun I’d needed. It is not out of place therefore, to say that Tinubu is already anticipating a discrediting of his government another a rerun,” a stakeholder, who craved anonymity told The Boss.

There’s also the immediate past governor of Kebbi State, Alhaji Atiku Bagudu, who is said to be the handyman of one of Nigeria’s most notorious leader, late General Sani Abacha while he looted the country. On discovery, Bagudu demanded and was paid a whopping $110 million (N33.6 billion) for helping Abacha to loot the nation. Today, Bagudu is saddled with a sensitive position as the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning. No one remembered the part he played in the Nigerian economic woes other than he is a member of the APC and an allied of Tinubu.

According to Nicolas Ibekwe in a 2019 write up, “Court documents revealed that Mr Bagudu was the gas that powered Mr Abacha’s extensive money laundering operations.

“Working with some members of his own family, top members of the regime and Mohammed, Mr Abacha’s eldest son, prosecutors claimed the governor used an intricate network of phoney companies to siphon several millions of dollars from government treasury into offshore bank accounts operated by himself and the Abachas.

“The money-laundering operations Mr Bagudu ran on behalf of Mr Abacha are well-documented in suits filed in the United States and the Bailiwick of Jersey, a British Crown dependency in the Channel Islands.

“But what many Nigerians may not know was that Mr Bagudu, who now enjoy immunity from prosecution by virtue of being a governor, was once arrested for his role in the Abacha money laundering enterprise and spent six months in a US federal detention.”

Observers have asked how would men, who are only answering the call of political exigencies, deliver Nigeria from its economic stranglehold or help Tinubu translate his promise of renewed hope to reality having already taking decisions in the last three months that have further plunged Nigerians and the economy into abyss of hardship and suffering.

There’s also the former governor of Zamfara, Bello Matawalle, who supervised the worst form of insecurity and poverty in his state during his four years stewardship as governor manning the defence ministry though in deputy position. Stakeholders have asked what is he bringing to the table other than membership of the ruling party.

Other former governors, who made the ministerial appointment are Simon Lalong of Plateau State, Abubakar Badaru of Jigawa State, Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State, who was until his appointment, the senator representing Ebonyi central district, Gboyega Oyetola of Osun State, and Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe State. The former governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, narrowly missed out, owing to some security reports that proved very difficult to overlook.

A majority of the general public are of the opinion that the list consists of campaign managers awaiting a possible rerun and/or consolidate a reelection come 2027.

There are the appointees representing Cross River State and Delta State, Betta Edu and Festus Keyamo, respectively, who were said to practically lobbied for the positions. What can one do when he has to beg to get a political position. Keyamo, on his part, who was a minister of state in Labour and Productivity ministry for eight years is yet to pinpoint a major achievement of his ministry. His Special Public Works Programme which proposed to engage 774,000 Nigerians, and gulped N52 billion, is still shrouded in mystery  and a subject of battle between him and the National Assembly till date. Today, he has been reappointed.

The full list of the ministers and their designated positions are

1. Minister Of Communications, Innovation And Digital Economy: Bosun Tijani
2. Minister Of State, Environment And Ecological Management: Ishak Salako
3. Minister Of Finance And Coordinating Minister Of The Economy: Wale Edun
4. Minister Of Marine And Blue Economy: Bunmi Tunji-Ojo
5. Minister Of Power: Adebayo Adelabu
6. Minister Of State, Health And Social Welfare: Tunji Alausa
7. Minister Of Solid Minerals Development: Dele Alake
8. Minister Of Tourism: Lola Ade-John
9. Minister Of Transportation: Adegboyega Oyetola
10. Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Doris Anite
11. Minister of Innovation Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji
12. Minister of State, Labour and Employment, Nkiruka Onyejeocha
13. Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy
14. Minister of Works, David Umahi
15. Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo
16. Minister of Youth, Abubakar Momoh
17. Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu
18. Minister of State, Gas Resources, Ekperikpe Ekpo
19. Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri
20. Minister of Sports Development, John Enoh
21. Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike
22. Minister of State, Housing and Urban Development – Abdullahi Gwarzo
23. Minister of Budget and Economic Planning- Atiku Bagudu
24. Minister of State, FCT- Mariga Mahmoud
25. Minister of State, Water Resources and Sanitation- Bello Goronyo
26. Minister of Agriculture- Abubakar Kyari
27. Minister of Education- Tahir Mamman
28. Minister of Police Affairs- Ibrahim Geidam
29. Minister of Foreign Affairs – Yusuf Tuggar
30. Minister of Interior- Saidu Alkali
31. Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare- Ali Pate
32. Minister of State, Steel and Development- Maigari Ahmadu
33. Minister of Steel and Development- Shuaibu Audu
34. Minister of Information and National Orientation- Muhammed Idris
35. Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice- Lateef Fagbemi
36. Minister of Labour and Employment- Simon Lalong
37. Minister of State, Police Affairs, Inman Suleiman
38. Minister of Special Duties- Zephaniah Jisalo
39. Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation- Joseph Utsev
40. Minister of State, Agriculture and Food Security- Aliyu Abdullahi
41. Minister of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy- Hannatu Musawa
42. Minister of Defence- Muhammed Badaru
43. Minister of State for Defence- Bello Matawalle
44. Minister of State, Education- Tanko Sununu
45. Minister of Housing and Urban Development- Ahmed Dangiwa

While a cross section of Nigerians have criticized the list in its entirety as an assemblage of political stalwarts in readiness for a political rerun of the 2023 presidential or in readiness for reelection in 2027. Whichever way, it is obvious that this set of ministers may have little or no impact on the economy and wellbeing of the nation and its people.

“The body language is already so negative; what to expect is therefore not farfetched,” an analyst confided.

However, one thing is certain; by Monday, the administration of Tinubu will assume a sort of shape notwithstanding. Nigerians will therefore, have to wait to see if the shape will be monstrous or angelic.

Can Tinubu’s ministers deliver Nigeria? Time will tell.