Why Buhari Should Have Renominated Amaechi As Minister – Shehu Sani

Former Kaduna Central Senator, Shehu Sani has revealed the reason President Muhammadu Buhari should have re-nominated Rotimi Amaechi as Minister of Transportation.

Recall that Amaechi alongside four of his colleagues had resigned their appointments to contest the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential ticket while two others also left their positions to pursue their political ambitions.

Following the resignations, President Buhari on Tuesday sent names of seven ministerial nominees to the Senate as replacements for Amaechi and other former ministers.

In an interview with Channels Television on Tuesday, Sani said the President should have renominated Amaechi as the Minister of Transportation in order to complete the ongoing rail projects.

Sani added that the President should have returned Amaechi as minister to ensure that the contracts that were signed with China, Portugal and other financiers of the railway projects are executed.

The former lawmaker stated the President was right to send the names of new ministerial nominees to the Senate for confirmation and screening in order not to create a vacuum in governance.

He said: “Naturally when you have a vacuum with the resignation of the ministers and their entry into the political scene, it is incumbent on the president to nominate a new set of ministers who will continue with the normal conduct of government and governance.

“It has been habitual for the president to take a very long time before replacing a minister. As you can see, many of these ministers have been there for 8 years.

“But this time around, I think he is very conscious of the fact that time is against him and there are projects that have been left uncompleted.

“For example, the railways under Rotimi Amaechi, there is a need to have a head, who will continue to steer these contracts and agreements so that the targets can be met.

“So what has been done with the names submitted to the senate, I think it is in the right direction and it is for the senate to fix a date and screen them so that they can continue with what they need to do.

“I thought that as critical as the ministry of transportation is, the former minister who had made pledges and promises of completing these rail lines — some projects within this year and some next year.

“He should have been returned to ensure that these contracts that were signed with China, Portugal and other financiers of our railway projects, at least he sees them to the end.

“Because it has been the culture in this country, each time you have a new minister, projects are usually stalled when ideally there should be continuity in governance and activities of government.”