{"id":432966,"date":"2011-05-30T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-05-30T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/05\/30\/battle-for-top-jobs-the-buck-stops-on-jonathan%e2%80%99s-desk\/"},"modified":"2011-05-30T23:00:00","modified_gmt":"2011-05-30T23:00:00","slug":"battle-for-top-jobs-the-buck-stops-on-jonathans-desk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/battle-for-top-jobs-the-buck-stops-on-jonathans-desk\/","title":{"rendered":"Battle for top jobs: The buck stops on Jonathan\u2019s desk"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Tuesday, 31 May 2011 00:00<\/span> Mohammed S. Shehu<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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after the May 29 handover, all eyes are on the formation of the next government and\u00a0 politicians are gearing up\u00a0 to occupy top positions in the government of President Goodluck Jonathan.\u00a0
\nThe battle for the top jobs cut across positions of principal officers of the National Assembly, that of\u00a0 the National Chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) , Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and\u00a0 ministerial slots. While the battle rages on, various variables are at play but the final decision of who takes what is largely that of the President who determine so many things in the country. Even that of the National Assembly were the president has limited control, he is believed\u00a0 to be pushing for his anointed candidates.<\/div>\n

Therefore, events that will follow the President\u2019s inauguration are surely going to put Jonathan to the test because the pedigree of those going to make the final list will, to a large extent, provide an insight into the shape and character of the next government.\u00a0\u00a0 Therefore, the President\u2019s\u00a0 position at the moment could\u00a0 aptly be applied to the saying, show me your friends and I\u2019ll tell you who you are.<\/p>\n

The type of people likely to make up his next cabinet and by extension those that will occupy principal offices in the National Assembly,\u00a0 would to a great extent, determine the success of his transformation\u00a0 promises he offered Nigerians\u00a0 before\u00a0 his election.<\/p>\n

However,\u00a0 while the executive positions are solely in the pocket of the president, the struggle to produce principal officers\u00a0 of the 7th National Assembly\u00a0 is proving more difficult than expected. Despite the purported anointing of some principal officers in the power sharing arrangement,\u00a0 some of the lawmakers are\u00a0 still not comfortable and are poised to challenge it.<\/p>\n

The power sharing arrangement for key offices\u00a0 in the executive, the legislative arms and even in the PDP\u00a0 was conceived in zoning arrangement\u00a0 which the party and presidency at one time, said was not binding on them.<\/p>\n

The arrangements were said to have been rectified at Obudu Cattle Ranch Resort during the President\u2019s one week work retreat . The same plan was later on adopted by\u00a0 the party and its stipulated zoning arrangement as follows: President ( South-South), Vice President (North-West), Senate President (North Central), Speaker ( South-West), Deputy Senate President ( South -East) , Deputy Speaker, ( North -East),\u00a0 National Chairman ( North- East) , SGF (South East), Senate Leader\u00a0 (South-West),\u00a0 House Leader, (South South), Senate Chief Whip ( North -West) and House Chief Whip\u00a0 (South-East).<\/p>\n

The\u00a0 deal\u00a0 was on the premise that since the position of the President was zoned to the South-South and that of Vice President to the North-West, it was apparent to retain the existing leadership structure in the legislative arm as well. It opined that the\u00a0 North Central zone which has the current President of the Senate, David Mark, to retain the position in the incoming Senate while South -West which has the outgoing Speaker Dimeji Bankole, who has lost his election,\u00a0 to retain the post of Speaker in the incoming House of Representatives despite the pitiable performance of the ruling party in the South West during the last National Assembly elections.<\/p>\n

But even before it is affected , the\u00a0 sharing formula is facing stiff objection from the lawmakers\u00a0 especially from the North and South East who are of the opinion that the arrangement should not be a matter of convenience and that the pact ought to have enforced before now. They argued that\u00a0 the zoning formula, which was allegedly jettisoned by the party and presidency, is no longer relevant\u00a0 and they should be allowed to choose their leaders based on competence and ability to deliver. These anti-zoning elements are said to planning to enforce their stand in June when the two chambers of the National\u00a0 Assembly will come stream and elect their principal officers.<\/p>\n

But before the June judgment day,\u00a0 the current leadership of the Senate has quickly adopted precautionary measures to nip in the bud any attempt to\u00a0 scuttle the pact and unseat the current leadership of the Senate. The Senate\u00a0 has in the amendment edged out non-ranking senators by\u00a0 adopting the controversial\u00a0 seniority amendment of the Senate standing rules emphasizing seniority of members in vying for leadership and committee positions.\u00a0 it is believed to be used as a bludgeon to not only edge out new senators but deal with perceived troublesome senators who are likely to challenge the statuesque.\u00a0 Already,\u00a0 a non ranking senator-elect and outgoing Governor of Gombe State , Alhaji Danjuma Goje and his\u00a0 Kwara\u00a0 State counterpart Bukola Saraki are said to be eyeing the Senate top job despite the bar.<\/p>\n

While the case of the Senate is seemed settle, the scenario in\u00a0 lower chamber i raising nerves\u00a0 following attempts by\u00a0 some PDP lawmakers and lawmakers from opposition parties to scuttle attempt by the party and the presidency to foist their candidates on them.\u00a0 Both the party and presidency are said to be pushing for Representative\u00a0 Muraina Saubana\u00a0 Ajibola (PDP, Oyo State) , one of the very lawmakers that survived Action Congress of Nigeria onslaught from the South-West, from becoming the next Speaker.\u00a0\u00a0 Ajibola is not the only ranking member from South-West that is contesting, another member, Rep Mulikat Adeola (PDP, Oyo State) is also contesting, thereby turning the South-West battle for the Speaker of the seventh House of Representatives into a straight\u00a0 fight between Ajobola,\u00a0 Adeola. But the zoning is not going unchallenged as Rep. Aminu Tambuwal (PDP, Sokoto State), who is out of contention based on the zoning arrangement is contesting and he is said to have the backing most lawmakers and he is counting the adoption of the\u00a0 open secret ballot\u00a0 in the election of principal officers to cruise to victory.<\/p>\n

While the scheming is raging on the legislative arm, the\u00a0 race for the new chairman of the party,\u00a0 ahead of the party\u2019s national convention billed for March is also attracting same interest. The zoning of the position to North-East has already attracted almost a dozen\u00a0 suitors among them the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Rufai Ahmed Alkali from Gombe State; former Bauchi State Governor Ahmad Adamu Mu\u2019azu;\u00a0 Ambassador Hassan Adamu from Adamawa State, former FCT Minister\u00a0 Aliyu Modibbo from Gombe State, former Agriculture\u00a0 Minister Adamu Maina Waziri from Yobe State\u2019 former Power and Steel Minister Murtala Aliyu among others.\u00a0\u00a0 The zone is also slugging over the position of the Deputy Speaker.<\/p>\n

Similarly, the South East zone, which had mounted serious clamour for the position of the Speaker in the arrangement, was consoled with the strategic office of Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) in addition to retaining the office of Deputy Senate President. Already, former Senate President Anyim Pius Anyim, has been appointed as Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF). The horse-trading that preceded Anyim\u2019s appointment is also at play for the ministerial appointments with the expiration of the the present cabinet on Sunday, May 29.<\/p>\n

However, while\u00a0 political and\u00a0 geographical considerations\u00a0 are said to be leading criteria,\u00a0 ethnic and religious balancing are likely to pose a big upset to the ruling party.\u00a0 The party and the presidency must exercise caution while applying the zoning arrangement\u00a0 in order to balance ethnic and religious divides. Competence and credibility of the candidates should also not be taken with levity.<\/p>\n

For now, Nigerians are watching the President and\u00a0 the ruling party. They want to see whether they will pander to the wishes of political contractors and godfathers, or listen to the plight of the Nigerians who gave them the mandate to steer\u00a0 the country for the next four years.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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Visit link:
\nBattle for top jobs: The buck stops on Jonathan\u2019s desk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tuesday, 31 May 2011 00:00 Mohammed S. Shehu after the May 29 handover, all eyes are on the formation of the next government and\u00a0 politicians are gearing up\u00a0 to occupy top positions in the government of President Goodluck Jonathan.\u00a0 The battle for the top jobs cut across positions of principal officers of the National Assembly, that of\u00a0 the National Chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) , Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and\u00a0 ministerial slots. While the battle rages on, various variables are at play but the final decision of who takes what is largely that of the President who determine so many things in the country<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":415063,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-432966","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\nBattle for top jobs: The buck stops on Jonathan\u2019s desk - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/battle-for-top-jobs-the-buck-stops-on-jonathans-desk\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Battle for top jobs: The buck stops on Jonathan\u2019s desk - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Tuesday, 31 May 2011 00:00 Mohammed S. 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