New cabinet: Why Akala steered clear

 

Written by Idowu Samuel, Abuja Sunday, 22 May 2011

Contrary to expectations, the governor of Oyo State, Otunba Adebayo Alao Akala refrained from enlisting his name and that of his deputy, Taofeek Arapaja, as ministerial nominees for the state, the list of which is in the custody of President Goodluck Jonathan.
Akala, according to a top aide, left his name out of the ministerial nominees list in demonstration of spirit of fairness as a leader, just as he is said to have earned respect in the presidency and the circles of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by his altruistic disposition to compilation of the nominees’ list.
Findings by Sunday Tribune had revealed that Akala deliberately steered clear of the mad rush for ministerial appointment on consideration that he deserved a good measure of rest and in respect of the resolve by the party in Oyo State to fight his cause by challenging the victory of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the last governorship election.
Akala’s action was also said to be in the interest of Oyo State and the PDP in which case he felt restrained from affecting the chances of other ministerial nominees having served as the governor of Oyo State with popular support.
The PDP in Oyo State had headed to the court last week in protest of the victory of the ACN and had laid grounds to controvert the victory.
Sunday Tribune can report that out of the 10 names listed as nominees for ministerial job from Oyo State, four of them are females, thereby making Oyo the state with the highest number of female nominees.
In the same vein, Sunday Tribune gathered that President Jonathan had resolved the controversies trailing attempts at shortlisting names of nominees in other south-west states and other zones of the federation having sought the interventions of neutral party members in states where the process of shortlisting were most controversial.
A presidency source disclosed that a dark horse may emerge in Osun State, for instance, in view of stiff agitation and rivalry among prominent party members listed as nominees in the state.
However, a top official of PDP told Sunday Tribune that the lists of nominees from each state had been pruned from 10 to 2 per state in a manner that would reduce the burden for the committee set up to draw the final list for the President ahead of his swearing in on May 29.
The president had earlier hinted that any nominee with cases of corruption pending against him would not be considered for appointment, just as he had reportedly indicated interest working with ministers and nominees who posess track record of high performance in different areas they had served.

tribune.com.ng/sun/index.php/news/3960-new-cabinet-why-akala-steered-clear