EX-MILITARY CHIEFS LOBBY BUHARI FOR MINISTERIAL POSTS

.....President intensifies search for 'clean hands'
Following President Muhammadu Buhari's refusal to
form his cabinet until later in September, some
retired top brass of the military and the police have
reportedly held the president "hostage", making
entreaties for them to be included in the cabinet.
Already, peeved by the lack of readily-available "clean
hands" among the political class, the president is said
to be seriously considering forming his cabinet or
making some crucial appointments from a pool
retired eggheads in the military.
A security source in Abuja had told Sunday Mirror
that many of the names that were earlier slated for
ministerial positions had to be dropped as they failed
security clearance. He specifically mentioned "one
former governor in the southwest" who he said
security operatives discovered that he mismanaged
his state's finances.
Prodded to name some of the retired military top
brass that might be part of the cabinet, the source
declined but said many of them have continued to
pay nocturnal visits to the presidential villa ostensibly
to brighten their chances.
"These are people that he (the president) knows very
well. His experience in the political terrain does not
make him to trust many of these politicians, but the
retired military men are people he has known for
decades.
"While he may be able to leverage on his contacts in
the North to make some appointments, the same
cannot be said of the South where he has little
political contacts. So, don't be surprised when many
of his appointees from the South are people with
military, police or intelligence background", he said.
Sunday Mirror recalls that at the twilight of the
administration of Dr Ade Abolish as Commandant
General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence
Corps NSCDC, many serving and retired military men
had also lobbied to be appointed as head of the
asset-safety agency.
Aside their regular visits to the villa, many of them
have been reportedly sighted in Buhari's home state
of Katsina, trying to enlist the support of some
influential traditional rulers in the state.
President Buhari had in a Washington Post article
that coincided with his visit to the US said it would
neither be prudent nor serve the interests of sound
judgment for him to have formed his cabinet
immediately he was inaugurated on May 29.
"When cabinet ministers are appointed in September,
it will be some months after I took the oath of office.
It is worth noting that Obama himself did not have
his full cabinet in place for several months after first
taking office; the United States did not cease to
function in the interim.
"In Nigeria's case, it would neither be prudent nor
serve the interests of sound government to have
made these appointments immediately on my
elevation to the Presidency; instead, Nigeria must
first put new rules of conduct and good governance
in place.
"I cannot stress how important it is to ensure that
this process is carried out correctly, just as it has
been crucial to first install the correct leadership of
the military and security services before we fully take
the fight to Boko Haram", he had written.
- Thepanaceareports
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