Some concerned Kogi All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders and stakeholders, on Wednesday, adopted a former governorship candidate, Alhaji Idris Naibi Maiyanga, as their deserving candidate for the vacant ministerial slot for the state.
They lamented that the state had remained without a representative at the Federal Executive Council (FEC), months after the death of the former Minister of State for Labour and Employment, James Ocholi.
The group, while speaking in Abuja, described Maiyanga as former state coordinator of Buhari Support Organization who has credibility and not being investigated of any graft.
Dr. Abdullahi Baba Abdul, while speaking on behalf of the group, said that the state had suffered setbacks without a representative at the FEC, and urged President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint the replacement for late Ocholi in a “swift and positive way.”
According to him, it was natural that reward should come for people that had consistently conducted themselves in good manner, describing Maiyanga as a politician who was not only qualified for the appointment, but who was instrumental in building of the party in the state.
He condemned those he accused of working to hijack leadership of the party in the state and urged the administration of Governor Yahaya Bello to address the plight of common people of the state and pay owed workers.
He said, “We are against their hijacking of the party because they just came to the party when election has been won. As decampees who just came now, they have no rights to assemble themselves and claim to be leaders of the party; moreover, they are mourning more than the bereaved
“It is the prerogative of the president to appoint anybody as minister but as politicians, we are also appealing to him to appoint a minister from Kogi as soon as possible.
“We don’t want to appear as if we are compelling him but we are appealing. It is a constitutional issue. If we have had a representation, he would have been liaising with the state governor to address the plight of Kogi people. We will not want to give an ultimatum
“Maiyanga was the one who won the CPC ticket that was later given to late Ocholi. This candidate we are rooting for, by Providence, the state executive has nominated him and forwarded his name as the first candidate for this replacement. It is in public domain. He is the deserving candidate to replace late Ocholi. By whatever lens it is looked at, he is qualified
“Annoyingly, we have seen a lot of names being dropped who by whatever x-ray, if you take proper look at their antecedents or profile, I don’t think Mr. President needs people with questionable character to be in his cabinet.”
