APC northwest caucus pressed Tinubu to guarantee them a range of juicy appointments

GOVERNOR Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State us reported to have led a delegation of All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders from the northeast to meet Asiwaju Bola Tinubu with a  list of stringent demands which must be met if he wants their support.

In June, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the former Lagos State governor,  emerged as the APC presidential candidate after coasting home in a landslide victory following the party's convention in Abuja. Following his victory, however, he laboured to select a running mate after publicly declaring that he will pick a Christian from the northeast geo-political zone as his deputy.

Eventually, after weeks of prevarication, Asiwaju Tinubu ended up selecting a fellow Muslim in the form of former Borno State governor, Senator Kashim Shettima as his running mate. In the run-up to the decision, however, Asiwaju Tinubu held talks with several northern leaders and it appears that during this process, Governor El-Rufai led the presentation of a position paper by the northwest caucus of the party to the him.

Apparently, at the meeting, they asked for the positions of vice president, secretary to the government of the federation and finance, works, agriculture, interior and Federal Capital Territory  ministers among others in exchange for their support. They also asked for other key political appointments including those of the Office of the National Security Adviser and the head of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency.

Other agencies the northwest wanted to head included the Nigerian Ports Authority, the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending, Bank of Agriculture, Bank of Industry, Department of State Services and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria. They noted that in view of the region’s importance and contributions to electoral victory at the forthcoming polls, all these key appointments should be reserved for the area.

However, Asiwaju Tinubu clearly did not agree to all the demands as he went ahead and quickly announced his vice president who came from the northeast, while noting the other demands.Currently, the north west region has nine federal ministers, representing Kebbi, Zamfara, Sokoto, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina and Jigawa states as well as President Muhammadu Buhari.