Road To Aso Rock: Does Opposition Deserve A Cut In APC, Tinubu’s Cabinet?

Come May 29, 2023; a new administration will be sworn in to take over affairs of the nation as President Muhammadu Buhari and his cabinet will drop the baton, having served the constitutionally allowed maximum of eight years in office.

Following the outcome of the 2023 general elections, especially the presidential poll, top chieftains of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) openly showed their interest in settling their nest in Aso Rock with President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Naija News reports that the tussle for the leadership of the National Assembly heightened recently as party chieftains are uncertain in terms of the zoning formula that the APC will decide to adopt for the 10th assembly.

Amid the internal anxieties in the APC, speculations are that President-elect, Tinubu is considering working with members of the opposition party.

Tinubu is said to be considering this after announcing that his administration will capitalize on the government of competence and not unity.

Some APC chieftains, however, have disapproved of the President-elect’s bid to welcome opposition members into his cabinet.

Speaking during an interview earlier, APC Director of Publicity, Bala Ibrahim, said Tinubu’s intention must have been misconstrued when the former Governor of Lagos State said his administration in Aso Rock would be a government of national competence.

In a related development, an APC chieftain had said earlier that Tinubu would betray the North if he welcomed members of the opposition into his cabinet after they had given him a chunk of votes during the just concluded elections.

Party Positions After Supplementary Elections

After the outcome of the 2023 general elections, including the supplementary polls across some states, records showed that for Senate, APC has 59 senators; the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP -36); Labour Party (LP 8); the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP 2); YPP 1; APGA 1 and SDP 2. Total 109.

In the House, it is APC 179; PDP 115; LP 35; NNPP 19; ADC 2; YPP 1; APGA 5 and SDP 2—a total 358.

The figure above showed APC has a chunk of the seats in the NASS, which is the reason why party chieftains think that Tinubu has no business compensating opposition members by giving them appointments in his cabinet.

We Have No Other Country

However, while reacting to submissions by some APC chieftains that Tinubu must not welcome members of the opposition in his cabinet, Nigerian political analyst Jide Ojo, said: “We need to realize that a political party is just a platform for winning an election. And because it is just a platform, it is not out of order to look for competent hands to help with governance at every level and from anywhere.

“I am of the considered view that even people who are not partisan, people who are technocrats, which are not based in Nigeria, who are outside of the shores of Nigeria, those who are in the opposition political parties, all of them can be brought to bear on governance in Nigeria.

“Because we have no other country, and governance is the next major thing to do after the election. What does it matter if someone like Prof. Kingsley Morgalu, Prof. Pat Utomi and other vibrant patriotic Nigerians who are in other political parties? What is wrong if they are brought in?

“Pat Utomi has been a member of the APC in the past, he has also been a member of the opposition in the past and is currently a member of the opposition and we know the level of his competence, and we know what he has contributed to the development of Nigeria in terms of policy ideas. The Lagos Business School which he founded with some people has provided high-calibre over-capital development for this country.

“So, what would be wrong? That he is no longer in APC, does it means he does not longer have an idea to contribute? Someone like Kingsley Moghalu who was a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. Why can’t he be invited to head a ministry of department or agency? They don’t have to be cabinet members of the party; after all the minimum threshold is 36.”

Greatest Mistake Tinubu Will Make

During an interactive session with Naija News on Sunday, April 23, Ojo said the most significant mistake Tinubu will make is to have these political jobbers in positions of authority.

He said: “If all is about, I voted for you, I mobilize for you. Tinubu himself has said that he will form a government of national competence, not just of national unity. And  I am with him 100% on that. Let’s bring them on board wherever that competence can be found, within and outside of Nigeria.

“Look at Adebayo Ogunlesi, that is doing great things in Europe in the United Kingdom, turning things around. Why can’t we have him as a cabinet minister or heading one of the government agencies?

“People without political affiliation will even be more loyal than those nominated by the party or whom you brought in to come and chop.

“This is not the time to come and chop; this is the time to come and build; this is the time to come and develop, not to eat as it was done under Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and other governments in the past.”

The political analyst stressed that things are bad for Nigeria and that the economy is dwindling. And if you do not want the country to disintegrate because of economic crisis, you need the best hand from all around the world; whoever is Nigerian, let them come.

Ojo said: “Where was Okonjo Iweala, where was she gotten from, and where was Oby Ezekwesili brought in from? She was with the world bank.

For me, in as much as you are a Nigerian, a patriotic Nigerian, you are a technocrat, you have something, ideas to contribute, I am all for it.

The time for election has gone; I am not saying people should not be rewarded, but that a government of competence is what we want. And that competence could be found within and outside of the ruling party. And that is why I am saying, by now, Asiwaju should have those who have the best hand across the globe that can help this country to turn things around.

Not political jobbers who are just looking at how to feather their nests. How to maintain their own political hegemony.

He added: “We have people who have been in the system for over 20 years. The president-elect should have eyes for details.”

In the case of former Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich, when he owned the club, if he hires you as a coach and you record ten consecutive losses, he fires you.

“It does not matter whether you are siblings, it’s about what have you got to contribute. It does not reinforce failure.”

“When Lampard was called upon, and he was recording failure, he was shown the door. Former Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho, was celebrated in his prime but was shown the door after all.

“And that is what government is, you don’t just populate your cabinet and government with incompetent people who have no clue why they are in government.

“That is one weakness President Muhammadu Buhari has. Buhari reinforces failure. He will see somebody is incompetent and still keep him at his post. It took a lot of public outcries for him to change the service chiefs and when he did, is one of them not among the governorship candidates in the just concluded election?

“So I am saying that politics, yes, we are all political animals, but in terms of governance, he needs to shop for the best hands globally.”

The Most Important Criteriom Is Competence

Jide Ojo stressed that whether you are a card-carrying party member or not, the most crucial criterion is competence.

The analyst, however, said that if, within one year, a political appointee refused to make an impact, then he should be shown the door.

“That is why all the appointees of the president, including ministers, are called the president’s lieutenants, they are appointees, and they keep their position at the beers of the president. The only person that cannot be removed is the Vice President, who was elected alongside the president.

“My advocacy is, one competence, the ability to deliver on assigned portfolio because we have since been round pegs in square holes under this administration. People whose expertise is elsewhere, and you bring them into government and say it does not matter.”

Ojo reiterated that competence is the right people being put in the correct position where they will be most effective and in case they are not competent, they should be shown the door in a maximum of two years.

In summary, it is safe to say that party should not determine who forms part of Tinubu’s cabinet but the competence of individuals in the best interest of Nigeria.

The President-elect is advised to carefully appoint only competent hands into his cabinet irrespective of their political background and the region they hail from.