You must have heard that President Muhammadu Buhari today appointed Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa as his Senior Special Adviser, Diaspora and Foreign Affairs and Mr. Ben Akabueze as Special Adviser, Planning, to Minister of Budget and National Planning?
Well, some insiders are alleging that their appointment is one of the moves adopted by Buhari to pacify APC National Leader and former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Tinubu and Buhari are allegedly not in good terms, even though both of them have continued to deny that.
The duo allegedly fell out following the constitution of Buhari’s cabinet months ago. Said one of our sources:’Some of the names (allegedly) submitted by Tinubu didn’t make the cabinet – which he didn’t like considering the major role he played in getting Buhari into power. And that was the genesis.
‘However, with what is happening now, it appears Buhari wants to pacify him with the appointment of Abike and Nwabueze who are both Tinubu’s disciples. Remember that it was Tinubu that made Abike whatever she is today politically? Same with Akabueze. He (Tinubu) moved Abike into politics, from NTA where she used to be, to the Federal House of Representhatives where she spent over a decade and was even at some point touted as the Deputy Governor-designate.
‘For Akabueze, not only was he the first Igbo man to become a Commissioner in Lagos, he even served under both Tinubu and his successor, Babatunde Fashola, SAN. Tinubu, if you can still recall, lured him from banking where he rose to become the MD of the defunct NAL Merchant Bank, to politics. So, Abike and Akabueze are quite close to him.
‘In fact, with the disengagement of the 26 Directors-General of some government parastatals, also today, more of Tinubu’s disciplines will soon be accommodated.’
It would be recalled that the tale all over town immediately Buhari announced his cabinet then was that Tinubu was unhappy. According to the tale bearers, Tinubu’s men were not adequately accommodated and compensated by the President. Adding that the only Tinubu disciples in the cabinet are Alhaji Lai Mohammed, his former Chief of Staff, who is now the Minister of Information and maybe Mr. Babachir Lawal, the Secretary to the Federal Government.
‘I know some people may want to mention Babatunde Fashola, but he didn’t exactly nominate him, even though the details I wouldn’t like to go into’, our source quickly ended.