New Bickering Over Corruption Within Presidency Unsettles Buhari’s Cabinet

Reliable information available to 247ureports.com indicates that the ongoing power-play among the top managers of the Buhari administration may have taken a turn for the worse as more information of the practices and/or mode of operation of the Chief of Staff and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation leak out into the public arena. This is as many within the Buhari cabinet have learned that the duo have virtually reserved the many vacant political appointments for sale. Many of the political positions which the President is expected to fill, is reported to have been reserved for the highest bidder – and not for the most qualified.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, David Lawal was made to head the committee to seek qualified candidates to fill many of the vacant positions. The committee recently submitted its report to the President – and had since began to cash-in on the golden opportunity. Our source indicated that the delay in Mr. President’s appointments to fill the many vacant positions was largely due to the chief of staff and the secretary to the government of the federation’s determination to only recommend persons who have paid for the said position.
The source pointed to the many heads of parastatals who were appointed by the previous administration under the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] – who are yet to be replaced – as evidence and/or symptomatic of the “pay to play” scheme operated by the two top administrators of the Buhari administration. “The PDP appointees are still at their work posts because they have settled the chief of staff and his partner. It is that simple.” The source continues that “many of the appointments made recently by the President showed how the President placed round pegs into square holes“.
The appointees were brought in from the “outside” with expertise that were tangential to the required work experience. In some cases, the work experience possessed were completely unrelated to the post being filled. The recent fourty six appointments to head the boards of the many parastatals were fingered also as part of the corruption that has become the norm in the Buhari cabinet.
The source cites the delay in replacing the Ministerial slot of Kogi State [James Ocholi] – that was left vacant after the Minister died in a car crash with his wife and son. The delay according to the source was the result of waiting for the right bidder to pay for the position. “They don’t remember that the ministerial slots are constitutional. They denying Kogi State their constitutional rights for selfish pecuniary reasons.”
Previously, chief among the aggrieved and/or complainants had been the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi who had engaged in a shouting match with the Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari over appointments and contract approvals by the President. A shouting match had also occurred between the Environment Minister and the Chief of Staff over access to the President. The chief of staff had wanted to limit access to the President for all the ministers. He wants all communication with the president to go through him alone.
Interestingly, the new bickering has not come with the customary shouting matches – according to our source. But a majority of the Ministers are unhappy with the management of the President’s cabinet by the chief of staff and the secretary to the government of the federation. They cite the manner the cabinet weekly meetings have been reduced to an all comers affair – where non-cabinet level members are invited to sit-in during the meetings. Such non-cabinet level persons like Garba Shehu and other presidential aides were reported to sit-in during weekly cabinet meetings with Ministers and other cabinet level members. The ministers are not comfortable with the arrangement.
With the recent directive by the President for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission [EFCC] to open a broad reaching investigation into Judiciary and the involvement of his aides in the supposed financial crimes alleged by the DSS, the Ministers appear jittery and unsettled over the direction the probe will take. As 247ureports.com learnt, some of the Ministers fear the probe may take a political turn – and be used to remove ‘uncooperative’ ministers.