Buhari reportedly rejects APC Govs ministerial list, turns down request for bail out

The President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) has reportedly dashed the hopes of governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) following his rejection of their plans to submit a ministerial list to him.

The APC governors, led by Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, had, last Tuesday, paid Buhari a visit at the Defence House, Abuja where they pledged their loyalty and also tabled some demands.

At the meeting, some requests were tabled openly while the request to drop the list of possible ministers came up for discussion behind closed doors.

Sources close to the meeting between the governors and General Buhari indicated that the state chief executives came out of the visit with heavy minds.

According to Sunday Tribune, the APC governors had planned on maintaining the tradition already instituted by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) where governors as party leaders in their respective states are requested to submit list of possible ministers and ambassadorial appointees to the president.

In what appeared a radical break from the existing tradition, the president-elect reportedly rejected the proposal and declared that the Constitution does not mandate him to take a list of ministerial nominees from governors.

A source in the know told Sunday Tribune: “The governors practically went out of the visit with their tails between their legs. The General first threw aside the request that he grant bailout to the states. He told them that the governors going for second term in office cannot complain about the state of the economy, having collected all their allocations to date from the Federal Government. He ruled out the possibility of bailout.

“The General was also very unequivocal when he was told that the governors want to submit a ministerial list to him. He clearly said he cannot go into that discussion. He insisted that the Constitution does not mandate him to collect such list from the governors and that the state chief executives should concentrate on sourcing good materials that would help them run the states adequately”.

The source quoted the president-elect as saying that “I do not think we can discuss that issue of Ministerial list. The Constitution clearly does not mandate me to take a list from the governors. To me, the governors should concentrate on getting good hands to help them in discharging their duties in the states”.