Jonathan nominates Shekarau as minister
Former governor of Kano State, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, has been nominated into the federal cabinet by President Goodluck Jonathan.
Shekarau, who was governor of Kano State from 2003 to 2011, recently left the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), complaining that he had been sidelined in the new party.
He was in the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) which joined forces with other opposition parties to form the APC early this year.
Shekarau, a teacher, is heavily favoured to be given the education portfolio vacated by Prof. Ruqqayatu Rufai, who was dropped from the cabinet in September 2013.
At the senate plenary on Wednesday, the names of the nominees were read out.
Others are Abdul Bulama (from Yobe), Stephen Oruh (Delta), and Adebayo Adeyeye (Ekiti).
Shekarau is the most high-profile APC defector on the new list, which many thought would also feature Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa, former governor of Sokoto State, who also left the APC for PDP early this year.
Born in 1955, Shekarau bagged an education degree in mathematics from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in 1977.
He was a teacher and a civil servant until Major-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari endorsed him for Kano governorship on the platform of ANPP in 2003.
He defeated the then incumbent, Malam Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, in the election, but in a twist of fate, Kwankwaso took over from him in 2011 after Shekarau completed his two terms in office.
The defection of Kwankwaso from PDP to APC rekindled their old rivalry and the former governor promptly left the party.
He was received into PDP on April 15, 2014 by Jonathan (pictured) at a rally in Kano, forcing many critics to question the timing of the event, a bomb blast having killed 75 persons in Nyanya, near Abuja, the previous day.
The kidnap of hundreds of schoolgirls from Chibok, Borno State, also took place on the eve of the Kano rally.
Information minister Labaran Maku said the president was right to proceed with the rally in order to make a statement to Boko Haram that insurgency would not stop “the wheel of the state”.
With the appointment of Shekaru, there are 3 possibilities:
1. North West would now have more than their fair share of Ministerial slots. The constitution allows for 1 minister per state and presidential prerogative of 1 per zone. All the North West states already have their ministers and Gen Gusau already occupies North West zone slot.
2. The 2nd possibility is for the President to remove Ambassador Yuguda (of Zamfara State) in order to maintain staus quo. This will make Gen Gusau become a rep of Zamfara and Shekarau, the north west rep.
3. The 3rd possibility is for the cabinet to become unusually larger than 42 (36+6)or ethe 2 States that do not have ministers (Kwara & Anambra) be deprived of their slot.This becomes a constitutional issue!!!