After 124 days of suspense, President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday submitted his much-awaited list of ministerial nominees to the senate for screening and approval. Managing Editor YUSUF ALLI revisits the politics and the intrigues behind the nominations.

At the nick of time, President Muhammadu Buhari surprised his anxious compatriots with a list of his “dream team”. He lived up to his promise that members his cabinet would be named in September. Like a true soldier, Buhari employed element of surprise which caught his detractors unawares. At a time the phones were buzzing with condemnation for not submitting ministerial list, his Chief of Staff, Alhaji Abba Kyari and Senior Special Assistant on National Assembly Matters, Senator Ita Enang, showed up at the Office of the Senate President at about 5.20pm on Wednesday to make the list available to the legislature. The surprise package changed the tune of discourse in the media and public space, especially on the internet. The Senate had risen from plenary at about 1.30pm and adjourned till October 6.

Sticking to his “slow and steady” style, the President was painstaking in picking his team and he chose the 55th Independence broadcast to explain the three-month delay.

“Our government set out to do things methodically and properly. We received the handing over notes from the outgoing government only four days before taking over. Consequently, the Joda Transition Committee submitted its report on the reorganisation of the Federal Government structure after studying the handover notes. It would have been haphazard to announce ministers when the government had not finalised the number of ministries to optimally carry the burden of governance,” the President said in his nationwide address yesterday.

What Buhari did not tell Nigerians was that the delay helped him to conserve N845.558 million accruable to 42 ministers. The figure excludes the salaries and allowances for three ministerial aides, escort drivers and police orderlies.

The politics of the ministerial nomination

Although the President on Wednesday submitted a list of 21 ministerial nominees as the first set of names (out of a minimum of 36 and maximum of 42) for screening and approval, Nigerians are eager to know the mindset of the President and the parameter he used in picking those on the list. Investigations showed that five factors determined the nomination of ministers by the President. These are: strict adherence to principle of non-interference in choosing his cabinet; integrity or pedigree; selfless service; old acquaintances and less exposure to political influence.

For the first time, ex-Presidents/Heads of State, governors, ex-governors, members of the National Assembly, political god-fathers and even the leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), had less input into the ministerial nominees. It was learnt that Buhari received a heap of recommendations but his usual response, laced with infectious smile to defuse tension, was “noted, alright’ amidst intermittent nodding. Most of the lobbyists went away with satisfaction that their candidates will make it but the more the lobbying, the less the chance of such candidates.

A highly-placed source in the presidency said: “Buhari was his own man in choosing his cabinet although he took certain factors into consideration. Those who came to advise him assisted in providing direction or guiding his mind. At a point, the APC leadership could not give exact situation of things.

“He has done away with appointments based on favouritism, god-fatherism and egoism.

“Apart from merit, Buhari gave ministerial slots to those who have the ability, those who can deliver and those he had trusted over the years including those who worked with him when he held the forte as chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) and those in the trenches with him in the defunct All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) and the Congress for Progressives Change (CPC). He has rewarded selflessness, perseverance and loyalty.”

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List of repented demons

His ministers were not named on September.He only submitted #thelist

I have only one doubt 'is Amaechi and Fashola also among the saints'?
Buhari had only succeeded in fooling himself.