The immediate past governor of Lagos State, Mr Babatunde Fashola and
his Rivers State counterpart, Mr Rotimi Amaechi have become the first
causalities’ of President Muhammadu Buhari’s ‘no nonsense’ style of
leadership as both have lost out in their quest for ministerial
position.
According to The City,
The two former governors were at the forefront of the tenacious “change
campaign” that saw Buhari emerged victorious in the March 28, 2015
presidential election where Amaechi even served as Buhari’s campaign
director.
President Buhari was said to have told Fashola and Amaechi to their
faces in one of the All Progressives Congress (APC) caucus meetings held
before his inauguration on Friday, May, 29, that he was not considering
both of them for ministerial appointment without given any reasons to
justify his stand.
This we gathered may not be unconnected with the large sub-national
external debts incurred by Lagos State and Rivers State under the watch
of Fashola and Amaechi.
Under Fashola, Lagos State Government owes $1.02bn which represents
33.86 per cent of the country’s total sub-national external debts
leaving the remaining 35 states and the Federal Capital Territory with
$1.99bn as of June 30, 2014.
Amaechi was also accused of plunging Rivers State into massive external
indebtedness by a coalition of non-governmental organisations interested
in transparency and accountability in governance.
He took $280m concessionary loan from World Bank and the Africa
Development Bank for the purpose of providing water and sanitation which
the coordinator of NDCBP, Mr Ken Henshaw claimed will increase Rivers
State debt to the tune of $322m.
Henshaw, said, “since 2008, Rivers State has experienced a steady rise
in the amount it owes external creditors. In 2008, Rivers State owed
$32.3m, which increased to $33.7m in 2009.
“By 2010, it rose to $35.5m and decreased to $33.8m in 2011, only to
rise again to $36.6m in 2012 and $42.6m as at the end of 2013.”
Henshaw noted then that apart from these, the Rivers State government
also had a significantly large domestic debt amount, which stood at
N81.4bn and represented 5.2 percent of the total domestic debt of 36
states as at the end of 2012.”
The then Rivers State commissioner for information and communications,
Mrs Ibim Sementari however refuted the claim saying the state’s debt was
below N100bn.
She insisted then that Rivers State government had set aside N11bn every
month to service its debt profile, therefore would not leave any debt
for the incoming government; a promise the Amaechi led government failed
to honour as governor Nyesom Wike had raised the alarm over the large
debt left behind by Amaechi.
We however gathered from a reliable source, that President Buhari has
been under pressure since his victory by some stakeholders of the APC
especially from the South-West who felt their financial support
contributed greatly to his overwhelming victory at the poll.
Buhari was said to have rejected severally the ministerial nominees list
doctored by these APC South-West cabals on the ground that he decides
who works with him and would only consider someone based on merit.
This we gathered informed Buhari’s statement in his inaugural speech
after he was sworn-in on Friday, that he is for everyone and not for
anyone.
Our source maintained that the list of ministerial nominees published by
an online news portal which the APC hierarchy disowned before the
inauguration was actually presented to Buhari but his refusal to accept
or look at it forced the APC to disown it in order not to expose the
party’s in-house rancor to the public.
Our source further said that Buhari being a disciplinarian believes that
Fashola and Amaechi who were among those who flouted his directive to
all out-going governors to settle their debts before vacating office are
not fit enough as well as prudent to be considered in his cabinet.
Besides, Buhari is said to have confidence in the personalities that
worked with him during his 20 months administration in 1983 and would
only consider new faces on the ground of merit.