President Bola Tinubu has finally formed his cabinet, despite the intrigues that surrounded the process, including the dropping of three nominees, last minute replacements, and the pre-swearing-in reshuffling of portfolios.
The unveiling of the ministerial list, mid July, was heralded by a barrage of speculations, driven by lots of lobbying and projections.
Amid reports that the president intended to find a right blend between technocrats and politicians in his team, some of the touted names turned out to be on the 48-member cabinet.
While some made the list, albeit temporarily, others were nowhere near the list. More so, there were other big names, particularly politicians, who many had thought would make the cut that never did.
In this report, LEADERSHIP Sunday looks at some of the top politicians who some pundits projected would have been in Tinubu’s cabinet.
el-Rufai
The experience of the former Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufai, is the clearest indication of how unpredictably slippery the political terrain can be. Widely projected to head the power ministry after being screened by the Senate, the ministerial ambition of the former governor was unceremoniously cut short by a petition, which bothered on security concerns over his tenure as governor. The situation, however, was enmeshed in an intriguing web of high stakes politics which eventually sealed his fate.
He has since rejected the position and reportedly nominated someone in his stead, amid intense lobbying by other stakeholders in the state to take the slot.
Pending the president’s pick, whoever eventually gets the slot from the state, will be minister of environment.
Danladi
The Taraba State nominee and former deputy governor, Senator Abubakar Danladi, was also dropped as minister after the Senate refused to confirm his choice because he failed security clearance.
Kwankwaso
Although he was presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, became a person of interest shortly after his visit to President Tinubu at the presidential villa.
Kwankwaso, a former governor of Kano State and a member of the 1999 set of governors like Tinubu, had led NNPP to victory in the recent Kano State governorship election. And so the visit was seen, in some quarters, as a
But the visit didn’t go down well with his archrival, successor and now APC national chairman, Dr Abdulahi Ganduje, who at the time, was also angling to get the state’s ministerial slot.
Having lost Kano to NNPP, Ganduje, one of Tinubu’s earliest staunch supporters for the presidential bid, would need the ministerial position to retain his political relevance and sustain his tussle for political control with Kwankwaso.
The drama however culminated with Kwankwaso being passed over for the slot while Ganduje was made APC national chairman. Interestingly, the initial ministerial nominee was replaced afterwards.
Fashola
Although he served eight years as minister in the immediate past administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, some pundits felt Babatunde Fashola might still get the call to serve in Tinubu’s administration.
This notion was against the backdrop of the sensitive and strategic role he played, as director of election planning and monitoring of the APC Presidential Campaign Council.
Also some felt, Fashola, who was Tinubu’s chief of staff and later successor as Lagos governor, would be brought into the new president’s team as a sort of nexus between the Buhari and Tinubu administrations. But that was not to be. Perhaps, the fact that he was a minister for eight years in Buhari’s administration played a part in his exclusion.
Fayemi
The former governor of Ekiti State was widely speculated to be a minister. In the lead up to the election and even after, Fayemi was quite visible around Tinubu in high profile meetings.
In some quarters, the former minister of Mines and Steel in Buhari’s first term, seemed set to be either foreign affairs minister or chief of staff to the president.
Fayemi, however, didn’t get the Ekiti slot. Interestingly, the current minister from the state, Dele Alake, retained the portfolio Fayemi had under the Buhari era.
Fani Kayode
Former minister of Aviation and director of New Media in Tinubu’s presidential campaign council was another person that attracted much interest, especially on the social media space.
Much like his counterpart in the campaign council and current minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, some pundits had thought Kayode would get the call, considering the role he played during the campaign.
Omo-Agege
As former deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, the APC governorship candidate in Delta State in the last election, was also listed among those who might be called up to serve as minister in Tinubu’s cabinet.
Some pundits had thought Omo-Agege would be compensated with the ministerial slot after losing to the vice presidential candidate of PDP Senator Ifeanyi Okowa.
Ayade
Although he didn’t get as much mention as some others on this list, former governor of Cross River State, Prof Ben Ayade, was one of those former governors, that wouldn’t have surprised many if he got the slot from his state.
For one, he ensured APC retained control of the state for the first time, even though the Labour Party won the state at the presidential level. Even so, Ayade was not the only governor who couldn’t deliver his state for the APC at the presidential poll.
Also with his academic attainments some had thought he could fit as a politician and technocrat of sorts in the Tinubu cabinet. But his name was conspicuously missing in the two slots allotted to the state.
Adeyeye
He started the Tinubu presidency project when many were still undecided about it. A former minister of Works in the Goodluck Jonathan Presidency, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, was national chairman of the South West Agenda for Asiwaju 2023 (SWAGA), one of the pioneer groups which championed the Tinubu presidential bid.
He is also from Ekiti State. As far back as 2021, Adeyeye had led the campaign for Tinubu’s presidency in the South West, rallying the zone to back the former Lagos State governor.
Aregbesola
Once regarded as one of the closest Tinubu allies, immediate past minister of Internal Affairs, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, would have, perhaps like Fashola, been considered for minister.
But while like Fashola he had served eight years as minister, unlike the former Lagos Governor, Aregbesola, also a former governor (Osun) had had a sore relationship with Tinubu on account of his (Aregbesola) political fight with his successor and current minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola.
Lai Mohammed
More like Fashola, the immediate past minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, a close Tinubu ally, would probably have been considered for minister if he had not served for eight years. He was however very active in Tinubu’s presidential bid.
