Appointments: Govs, multinationals lobby SGF

In from Olumide Olaoluwa . . .
Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), Engr. Babachir David Lawal, is struggling with staving off a burgeoning army of lobbyists seeking federal appointments, Ripples can authoritatively report.
It was gathered that the Adamawa-born Lawal has become frustrated by desperate acts employed by appointment seekers and their lobbyists.
The lobbyists, sources said, are mainly political godfathers and multi-nationals bent on having their men installed as helmsmen in federal positions.
Some of the positions craved for, according to investigations, include headship of juicy parastatals, regulatory bodies, membership of federal boards and agencies with huge international support and funding.
It was learnt that governors have also joined the list of lobbyists, scheming to see some of their cronies moved to the federal level.
The lobbying became intensified in the last few weeks after the ministerial list was released. Realising that most of their preferred candidates didn’t make the list, most governors, sources in the SGF office said, have been booking for appointments with Lawal.
Constitutionally, the SGF is empowered to announce top federal appointments after directives from the presidency.
Findings showed that Lawal has the complete trust and confidence of President Muhammadu Buhari and has been saddled with recruiting trusted hands for some of the assignments.
This implicit confidence, it was gathered, stemmed from Lawal’s incorruptible stance as a Pastor with the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) as well as long years of intimate closeness with Buhari.
Buhari also plans for Lawal to yield enormous influence but only behind the scene with moderated supervision by the presidency.
Once political godfathers around the President decoded his body language on remaining federal appointments, it was gathered that they started bombarding the SGF with courtesy visits and felicitations.
At the last thanksgiving service he held in Abuja some weeks ago, most of the appointment seekers and their backers took advantage of the informal setting to reach out to Lawal.
Sources said some of them even stooped as low as milling around his office and paying him private visits at home.
Lawal, who was said to be unaware of their intention initially, became uncomfortable when some of them started offering him “gifts”.
A source said: “He just received them since they are known political figures, not realizing they were after something. When he realised what they wanted of him, Babachir (as he is fondly called) became irritated.
“But he cannot fight them or tell them off. He is just playing along, pushing some of them to mention names they have in mind.”
At the last count, it was gathered that over 100 names have been dropped on his table for consideration.
The SGF, a competent source confided, has also been inundated with over 200 CVs of federal appointment seekers and their backers.
The involvement of governors, it was learnt, however further heated up the issue with many of them hiding under the cover of ‘courtesy visits’ to suggest names to Lawal.
The development is not unconnected with the failure of over 90 percent of them from getting their cronies into the ministerial list.
Our source said that “The governors are even worse. They see him every other day, suggesting parastatals that need new headship and those who could be considered.

Read also: Special report… Buhari’s Ministerial List: Matters Arising

“All the names they drop, from our investigation, are people they want in power. They just want to find another way of bringing those who failed at the ministerial level on board.
“They stylishly tell the SGF to ask for anything he wants or even come with documents of properties they will conveniently give away in their states.”
For the multi-nationals, their interest, according to findings, is getting those disposed to their commercial goals to regulatory bodies.
“You know most of our regulatory bodies are comatose. The reason is that they have been infiltrated by the multinationals doing business here.
“It will shock you to know these entities were even responsible for the appointment of most of the regulators. That is why we are being shortchanged and multinationals get away with atrocities.
“Yes, they have reached out too. They are offering properties in their home countries as well as funded foreign accounts in the name of the SGF.”
Lawal, sources said, is determined to stand his ground, having come this far without such filthy lucre.
“He was not expecting to be made SGF; he couldn’t have lobbied to be here so why does he need any of these things?
“He is a servant of God in politics and does not need any of that support to survive. God is enough for him. He is contented.”
To demonstrate his resolve, Lawal has decided not to consider all the names suggested to him by governors, godfathers or multinationals.
Rather he has set up machinery aimed to picking the best Nigerians with incorruptible streak for some of these federal appointments, sources said.

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