Obasanjo And Tinubu At War Over Buhari's Ministerial List

Obasanjo And Tinubu At War Over Buhari's Ministerial List

 

 

Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo and the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu are reportedly at war over President Muhammadu Buhari’s ministerial nominees.

According to New Telegraph, the trouble started when Tinubu nominated former Lagos State Commissioner for Finance, Wale Edun as Finance Minister to fill the Ogun State slot.

Obasanjo is said to have subsequently called the APC leader and warned him against choosing Edun for Ogun when his work and career were rooted in Lagos State.

According to sources, the former president’s recent visits to Buhari were based on his nominations for the ministerial list.

According to New Telegraph, some of Obasanjo’s nominees include: former Osun State Governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola (Osun); former Governor of Ekiti State and now the Deputy National Chairman (South) of the APC, Chief Segun Oni (Ekiti); Mustapha (Ogun); former Minister of Education, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili and former Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Professor Chukwuma Soludo.

“Tinubu and Akande’s visit to President Buhari on September 9 was an impromptu meeting. An influential official in the presidency told them of Obasanjo’s surreptitious moves to corner the ministerial nominees from the South-West. This is why the two leaders visited,” a source said.

Obasanjo visited Buhari on September 8 while Tinubu visited the president on September 9. The APC leader however denied that his visit to Buhari was in connection with the president’s ministerial list.

Buhari is set to name his ministers before September 30 despite recently saying that ministers are just noisemakers like politicians.

See What The New Customs Boss Did To Corrupt Officers

See What The New Customs Boss Did To Corrupt Officers

 

 

Comptroller-General of Customs, Hameed Ali has requested for the files of serving Customs officers found to have been involved in corrupt practices in the past with a view to determining their fate over the next few days.

Ali, who formally resumed duties as the new Customs boss on Thursday last week said that President Muhammadu Buhari gave him a three-point mandate to reform, restructure and boost Customs revenue.

“The mandate he has given me are three basic things: go to Customs, reform Customs, restructure Customs and increase the revenue generation, simple. I don’t think that is ambiguous, I don’t think that is cumbersome. It is precise and I believe that is what all of you are here to do,” Ali told Customs officers in Abuja on Thursday.

In fulfilling the mandate, PM News gathered that Ali, over the weekend, in addition to demanding for the files of top officers of the NCS especially those from the ranks of Comptrollers and above, also reportedly enlisted the support of the Department for State Security (DSS) to investigate top Customs officers especially Customs Area Controllers, Assistant Comptroller-Generals and Deputy Comptroller-Generals to track down their wealth and property across the country.

“It goes beyond sacking them. Many of them will forfeit illegally acquired property to government in addition to losing their jobs. Some will also be prosecuted. It is the beginning of a new era in Customs. It can no longer be business as usual,” a source at the Presidency told PM News.

The source said President Buhari was particularly concerned about high level of corrupt in the NCS and the perception that “Customs is one of the most corrupt agencies in the country”.


It was also gathered that a mass purge is imminent in the Service as part of efforts to carry out the President’s directive.


It was also gathered that the past Customs Comptroller-General, Dikko Abdullahi’s tenure will be probed with a view to recovering lost revenue.


Ali has also reportedly directed the implementation of zero tolerance for smuggling, underdeclaration and Customs duty evasion.

“Any importer or agent found culpable for any gof these acts going forward will be prosecuted. No more slap on the wrist as it used to happen in the past,” a Customs officer who did not want his name in print told PM News.