The Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to give him the privilege of nominating an Ekiti indigene for appointment into his cabinet.
Fayose, who was one of Buhari’s biggest opponents during the course of the presidential campaign, said this in a statement on Tuesday.
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The governor said he had written to Buhari and was hopeful that the President’s response would be favourable.
Fayose said, “I shall be happy to nominate a worthy and competent professional who can always oblige your Excellency and your cabinet the benefit of a second opinion in the serious business of governance.”
He noted that he wrote the letter based on the declaration made by the President that he would put the overall interest of the country above every other, particularly political partisanship and biases.
He said even former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who was a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, appointed the late Chief Bola Ige as the Minister for Justice despite Ige being a member of the Alliance for Democracy.
The governor also hinted that his letter was on the strength of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria section 147 sub (2) and (3) which states as follows: (2) Any appointment to the office of the minister of the government of the Federation shall if the nomination of any such person to such office is confirmed by the Senate, be made by the President.
(3) Any appointment under sub- section (2) of this section by the President shall be in conformity with the provision of section 15 (3) of this constitution provided that in giving effect to the provision aforesaid, the President shall appoint at least one Minister from each state who shall be an indigene of such state.
Fayose, who maintained that Ekiti is a PDP state where the governor, the National Assembly and the state Assembly members are all-PDP members, said that in the spirit of forming an all-inclusive government with capacity for national integration, the President should accord him the honour and privilege to name the minister that would represent Ekiti in his cabinet.
But the Publicity Secretary of All Progressives Congress in Ekiti State, Taiwo Olatubosun, in a statement on Tuesday described the governor’s request as “a gratuitous insult.”
He said, “Even if he were to be the APC governor, haven’t President Muhammadu Buhari made it plain that he won’t allow the governors to pick ministers for him?
“Why didn’t Fayose fight for Governor Kayode Fayemi to allow him suggest Ekiti ministerial nominees for President Goodluck Jonathan when the former President was appointing his ministers?
“We hope Fayose will, for once, strike a sane chord in his public conduct and stop hallucinating about the right to nominate candidates for Ekiti ministerial slot.”
