Ministers, PDP Leaders In Fierce Lobby For Cabinet Slots

[TGD]

 A GREAT deal of arm-twisting, blackmail, sophisticated lobbying nurtured by subterfuge media campaign to make a phantom list of presidential appointments and new cabinet members, has been noticed even in the Presidency.

Also, individuals outside the government collecting resumes from unsuspecting Nigerians "on behalf of the Presidency" have been uncovered by security and intelligence agencies.

A source in the Presidency said "we have not seen a time like this before, in a country that is in a serious race to catch up with even membership of G-20 and the emerging markets such as Brazil, India, South Korea, even South Africa, and indeed China.

"The lobby for presidential appointments and membership of the cabinet has been too intense and very dangerously so by many serving members of the outgoing cabinet and indeed members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and some top businessmen from outside government...

"They have resorted to all sorts of subterfuge approaches in a way that can confuse a weak chief executive. But the good thing is that the President is aware and is watching the development with funfair...yes with some amusement..."

The Guardian learnt that "the Presidency has noted that even some outgoing members of the cabinet have resorted to using the name of family members of President Goodluck Jonathan, and his wife to showcase their closeness and prospect of making the next cabinet.

Some ministers have also been using a section of the media to speculate how the President has reportedly agreed to retain some of them.

It was learnt that Jonathan's "real men" are keeping a tab on the lobbyists from government and those that have been claiming that they have had enough closeness to the first family.

According to one of them, "these ministers and indeed chief executives of some agencies that have been assuring their members of staff and bureaucrats that 'when I return' they will be punished according to the laws of the land. Indeed, we have discovered that some chief executives have indeed tampered with the finances of their organisations in the name of lobbying; they will be dealt with very soon because none of them will return by the grace of God."

There are also concerns over whether Jonathan will look beyond the PDP to choose competent Nigerians to assist him deliver on his electoral promises.

At an informal 'colloquium' The Guardian witnessed, even supporters of the PDP present, among other patriots, were engaged in a serious debate about "how far Jonathan can go in looking beyond the narrow confines of his party to get Nigerians of integrity to assist him fix the country.

The serious search for courageous persons to serve in the new government seems to centre on getting an experienced Chief of Staff, a versatile Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and a committed Head of Service (after Prof. Afolabi who has about four months to go) and top advisers on Energy, Education and Public Service.

Some optimistic contributors at the colloquium felt that "President Jonathan as an intellectual is capable of realising the expediency of using the mandate he was given last April."

Another source, who drew attention to how the President artfully sent off his personal aides and the outgoing cabinet members with their spouses at two different receptions on Wednesday, said: "Just wait, unless the unexpected happens, the President who even learnt a lot from the Cote d Ivoire incident will surprise many critics in his choice of men to work with him this time...there will be no more cabinet of mediocrities."

At the same event, a discussant noted that "the morning dew shows the day...if you read the names that have been reported as nominees from the PDP offices in the states, you can see that it is better to be hopeless so that we will not be disappointed. It is the old soldiers, failed governors, failed politicians that have helped in under-developing Nigeria... that are still being paraded. Not one notable name has been speculated...It may be a sad story after all even as the President has been promising that he will work in public interest."

Sad enough, some dubious characters have allegedly formed various shadowy organs to defraud desperate power and job seekers in Abuja by collecting huge sums of money and curriculum vitae from their unsuspecting victims.

One of the prominent agents in this fast business is a ward of a former prime minister in this country. The security community is said to be on his trail, among other fast guys who are even liaising with some journalists to mention names that are allegedly on the cabinet list.

An aide of the President however said "any one parading some names the party secretariats from the states have sent to the PDP headquarters as names on Jonathan's cabinet is a fraudster. It is shameful that journalists are involved in this dubious game."

The Presidency has however disowned the list being paraded in the media as cabinet nomination list.

An angry member of the PDP National Executive Council (NEC) said: "Let the reporters publish the content and sub-title in the list given to them. The title is "PDP List of Nominees for FG Appointments...

"It is public knowledge that all the PDP 36 state secretariats and Abuja had earlier been asked to submit 10 names from each of the states and Abuja and when you multiply that by 10 you get 370. Not all the states have complied. That is why the list has been incomplete. Why did a section of the media interpret a list of 370 as cabinet nominees? Is the Presidency crazy to collect a list of 370 as cabinet nominees when the constitution provides that each of the 36 states should have a minister?



Source: Ministers, PDP Leaders In Fierce Lobby For Cabinet Slots