Buhari, govs head for showdown over ministerial list

Few days to inauguration of Muhammadu Buhari as president, and already there are indications that he may be heading for a showdown with governors on the platform of his party, the APC.

The bone of contention between the incoming president and the states’ helmsmen is the appointment of ministers into the new cabinet.

Though earlier reports had stated that Buhari had rejected the ministerial list sent to him by the state governors and the party leadership in the states, the issue is still a major source of disagreement between both sides.

A source said Buhari had argued that it is not proper for the state governors to handpick his ministers for him when they undertake the appointment of state commissioners on their own.

It was learnt that part of the reason Buhari decided to embark on what seemed an impromptu foreign trip to the United Kingdom was to escape the pressures already being mounted on him by influential persons to favour their candidates.

The disagreement is coming on the heels of imminent jostling for positions by party chieftains and those regarded as non-partisan professionals and technocrats seeking for plum jobs in the incoming administration.

On the issue of ministerial list, it was learnt that the president-elect had conveyed his position to the national leadership of the party for onward communication to the governors.

Buhari had also asked one of the governors from the South who had submitted a list of ministerial nominees whether he (Buhari) could select his commissioners for him, a question the said governor could not answer.

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