Thursday, July 7, 2011

Cabinet - Again, Fashola Bows to Tinubu (and Amaechi's Commissioners have no portfolios)

Daily Independent (Lagos)
2 July 2011


Lagos/Port-Harcourt — Weeks after being screened by the House of Assembly and subsequent swearing in by the governor, the Rivers State Executive cabinet is yet to take shape.

More so, some of the commissioner nominees are yet to be assigned portfolios.

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On June 10, about seven commissioners were sworn in by Governor Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi as members of the State Executive Council with the charge that he would not hesitate to sack any of them if found wanting in his or her responsibility.

But several weeks after, the seven candidates are yet to know the respective offices they are to function as commissioners, a situation that is alleged to be responsible for the slowing down of activities in the state.

But investigations by Sunday Independent have revealed that the inability of the state government to allocate portfolios to the commissioners is connected to the pre-reconciliation fall out between the former governor, Dr. Peter Odili, Amaechi, and the latter's two co-governorship contenders - Dr. Abiye Sekibo and Sir Celestine Omehia.

The duo (Amaechi and Odili) were seen at the Corpus Christie Cathedral located on
Kaduna Street, Port Harcourt
, hugging each other in excitement on May 29, the day Amaechi was sworn-in for second term.

That meeting, it was gathered, signaled the beginning of a total reconciliation between Amaechi and Odili on the one hand, and Sekibo and Omehia, on the other.

Sources revealed that Odili and the political godfather of Amaechi as well as Sekibo and Omehia are now being awaited to make input into the next cabinet by submitting their own list of commissioners to be inculcated into the system in the spirit of full reconciliation.

Shortly after the last elections, Odili was alleged to have advised Amaechi to ensure that the two key governorship candidates - Sekibo of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and Omehia of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), were "adequately settled."

Odili attended Amaechi's inauguration party, but Sekibo and Omehia were not present.

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