Those already said to have been screened as nominees for President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet also include a former Governor of Osun State, Olagunsoye Oyinlola; and a Lagos-lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN).
Other confirmed names on the list are
Former Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazu; former chief executive of the Federal Inland Revenue, Mrs. Ifueko Omoigui-Okaru; a former finance commissioner in Lagos, Wale Edun; and a ex-National Legal Adviser to the defunct Congress for Progressive Change, Abubakar Malami (SAN).
According to PUNCH, the screening of the nominees had been concluded on Friday. Some of the nominees had appeared before the DSS.
It was gathered that they had been instructed not to leak details of their screening to the media.
"What was done was not physical screening but mainly background checking,” one of the already-screened nominees said.
Multiple sources within the APC told PUNCH on Sunday that Falana was favoured by a camp in the party to emerge as the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation.
A top APC chieftain said Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and the National Leader of the APC, Bola Tinubu, had convinced Buhari to appoint Falana.
Tinubu and Osinbajo were said to have told Buhari that appointing Falana, who he jailed over 30 years ago, would boost his image as a 'converted democrat'.
A source within the party added that power blocs within Falana’s home state, Ekiti, might not be disposed to the choice of the human rights lawyer because he is not a member of the APC.
The APC has three former governors in Ekiti State: Niyi Adebayo, Segun Oni and Kayode Fayemi.
An APC top official said, "Falana has already been screened by the DSS."
Sources within the party also said that Pat Utomi had been screened by the DSS and the police.
Utomi, a member of APC, was one of biggest critics of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s government. It was learnt that Edun, who served under Tinubu as Lagos governor, had also been screened.
According to PUNCH, the screening of the nominees had been concluded on Friday. Some of the nominees had appeared before the DSS.
It was gathered that they had been instructed not to leak details of their screening to the media.
"What was done was not physical screening but mainly background checking,” one of the already-screened nominees said.
Multiple sources within the APC told PUNCH on Sunday that Falana was favoured by a camp in the party to emerge as the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation.
A top APC chieftain said Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and the National Leader of the APC, Bola Tinubu, had convinced Buhari to appoint Falana.
Tinubu and Osinbajo were said to have told Buhari that appointing Falana, who he jailed over 30 years ago, would boost his image as a 'converted democrat'.
A source within the party added that power blocs within Falana’s home state, Ekiti, might not be disposed to the choice of the human rights lawyer because he is not a member of the APC.
The APC has three former governors in Ekiti State: Niyi Adebayo, Segun Oni and Kayode Fayemi.
An APC top official said, "Falana has already been screened by the DSS."
Sources within the party also said that Pat Utomi had been screened by the DSS and the police.
Utomi, a member of APC, was one of biggest critics of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s government. It was learnt that Edun, who served under Tinubu as Lagos governor, had also been screened.
Edun is being considered as the Minister of Finance while Utomi for Minister of Economic Planning.
Sources within the party said that Tinubu convinced Buhari to appoint Edun based on his antecedents.
He said the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Babatunde Fowler, Edun and Utomi might be given the task of reviving the economy.
A source said, "Oil prices are dwindling and Nigeria will need to diversify but in the short term, increasing the nation’s Internally Generated Revenue is the key. Tinubu explained to Buhari that when former President Olusegun Obasanjo withheld Lagos State allocations, Edun and Fowler helped to ensure that the state’s IGR increased exponentially."
It was learnt that Odimegwu was nominated by President Buhari.
Odimegwu fell out with former President Goodluck Jonathan when he openly criticised the Federal Government. He had resigned and then travelled to the United States.
Two weeks to the March 28 presidential election, however, Odimegwu openly supported Buhari and called him ‘the best man for the job.’ He is also close to former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Oyinlola, a one-time secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, defected to the APC shortly before the Osun State governorship election and he is a close associate of Obasanjo.
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