Garba Shehu: Why Buhari Has Yet To Choose Ministers

Amid public outcry over President Muhammadu
Buhari’s delay in announcing his choice of ministers,
the Presidency has begged Nigerians to be patient.
Shortly before his May 29 inauguration, Buhari had
reportedly rejected plans by governors of the All
Progressives Congress the party leadership in the
states to submit ministerial nominees to him.
The Senior Special Assistant to President
Muhammadu Buhari on Media, Garba Shehu, in an
interview with Sahara TV on Saturday, argued
against comparing Buhari’s government to such
states as Kaduna and Rivers, which have appointed
some commissioners.
According to Shehu, following the 2011 elections,
many South-West governors took several months to
form their governments.
He said, “The President did say he would hit the
ground running, but he has not been given the
chance to hit the ground running because the
administration that he succeeded — the Jonathan
administration — did not deliver the handover
notes until two or three days to the inauguration,
meaning that these handover notes were submitted
at a time when everyone had been consumed by
(inauguration) activities.
“Unfortunately, there was no time to look at them
until after the President had been inaugurated.
The President was left in the dark. He had to
understand what the situation was and what was on
the ground. That was why he set up a different
transition committee. It was only this week that
the committee, led by Dr. Ahmed Joga, scrutinised
the handover notes and handed over the report to
him (Buhari).
“To be fair to him, he would have hit the ground
running if the previous government had handed
over the notes early. However, the Jonathan
government did not even permit any minister to
interact in any way with the Buhari Transition
Committee. Evidently, we had our hands tied
behind our backs until we took over. Thus, there is
nothing shady about it.”
Shehu explained that the ministerial appointments
had yet to be made because the committee needed
to conclude its findings first, an 800-page report
of which was presented to Buhari on Friday.
On Wednesday, there was speculation that the
Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, was prevented
from attending Buhari’s meeting with the National
Security Adviser on the orders of the President.
The Vice-President was reportedly denied security
clearance to attend the meeting because of
security reasons by the President.
In his response, the SSA said, “That is the creation
of someone who just wanted to write something. It
was on the same day he travelled to Sudan to
represent the President, the government and the
people of Nigeria at the inauguration of the
president of that country.
“He couldn’t have been present in two places at
the same time. Osinbajo is the Vice-President of
Nigeria. In the absence of the President, he is the
President. So, there cannot be dark corners into
which he will not be allowed. It is not true.”
Speaking on the National Assembly crisis, the
presidential spokesperson expressed conviction that
the party with the majority, the All Progressives
Congress, and the opposition party, the Peoples
Democratic Party, would coexist harmoniously.
On Tuesday, against the directive of the APC,
Senator Bukola Saraki was elected unopposed as
President of the 8th Senate. Fifty-one senators,
include the party’s preferred candidate, Senator
Ahmad Lawan, were absent. Saraki and Lawan have
been engaged in a fierce contest to clinch the
Senate top job.
The other senators were at the International
Conference Centre, on the invitation of Buhari,
who had called the meeting to resolve the National
Assembly leadership crisis, at the time Saraki was
declared Senate President.
Speculation had trailed Buhari’s absence at a peace
meeting, with some arguing that Buhari favoured
Saraki.
However, Shehu said, “It is a matter of courtesy
that the office of the President would be given
that respect. The PDP, which issued a statement
saying the delay had embarrassed the country,
should be asked: How many times have they
suspended the plenary of the National Assembly,
either the Senate or the House of Representatives,
to go into the PDP caucus?
“A party needs to meet to organise itself and it
can’t be taken for granted. Buhari could not have
failed in wanting to meet his party members in
order to convey an important message to them.
And he has not allowed that chance because at the
time when he was setting out to go, the National
Assembly they had begun voting, hence the mission
was aborted.
“The fact that he said he would work with the
National Assembly (leadership) is consistent with his
position as a principled democrat. It is a body
recognised by law that is independent of his
control. He cannot control them. They carried out a
constitutional process and he will work with them.”