President Goodluck Jonathan will not let go of any of his ministers eyeing the governorship seats in their individual states until he declares interest in next year’s presidential poll, a presidency source has disclosed. Although virtually all the stakeholders of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) have endorsed his sole candidacy, the president has not come out to officially declare his readiness to join the race for the country’s top job, and this is why some ministers who are interested in the governorship election are not allowed to go yet...
If the information got from the presidency is anything to go by, not fewer than six serving ministers are ready to quit the Federal Executive Council (FEC) once the signal is given.
On the lists are the ministers of Information, Labaran Maku; labour, Emeka Wogu; Federal Capital Territory, Bala Muhammed; education (state), Nyesom Wike; Defence (state), Musiliu Obanikoro, and Samuel Ortom who is the minister of state for trade, industry and investment.They are eying the governorship seats in Nasarawa, Abia, Bauchi, Rivers, Lagos, and Benue states in that order.
“It is true some ministers such as Labaran Maku, Wogu, Bala Mohammed, Obanikoro, Ortom and Wike are ready to quit the cabinet to pursue their governorship ambitions but they may have to wait until President Jonathan publicly declares interest in the presidential election. Once that is done, I am sure they would be allowed to go,” the usually credible presidency source disclosed.
Speaking further, the source said, “Although President Jonathan has been endorsed as the sole candidate of his party, don’t forget that there is still a need for the presidential convention where he would be officially adopted, with INEC in attendance; otherwise, he is not qualified for the race.“Also, some of these ministers are playing prominent roles in their various ministries and since we are in the election year, the process of replacing them may take some time and President Jonathan wants every ongoing project to be completed before the campaign begins.”The source also disclosed that some senior presidential aides are also nursing similar ambitions and would be allowed to go but, unlike the ministers, such aides may not be replaced .
No comments :
Post a Comment