Campaign DG, one-party man, ‘a king without a kingdom’… Buhari’s ‘ministers’ from the south

For every time President Muhammadu Buhari has announced a list of appointees wince winning the election, he has been criticised for populating his team with northerners.

But on his list of ministerial nominees are a few names from south-east and south-south. Who are they, and why/how did they make the list?

ROTIMI AMAECHI: GAVE HIS ALL FOR BUHARI’S CAMPAIGN

Rotimi Amaechi goes into history as the only man in Nigeria who has served two terms both as speaker of a state house of assembly and as governor of the same state. He held the former office between 1999 and 2007, and the latter between 2007 and 2015.

Dubbed the lion of Niger Delta by his supporters, Amaechi was appointed director-general of the presidential campaign council of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in December 2014, a year after he defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) after falling out with then President Goodluck Jonathan.

Amaechi toured the length and breadth of the country with Buhari and fought hard for the victory of APC in the general election. Coming from the same Niger Delta region as Jonathan, he succeeded in making inroads for APC in the zone.

Although he has consistently denied it, Amaechi is seen as one of the biggest financiers of Buhari’s presidential election campaign.

The Rivers state PDP did everything to frustrate his possible appointment as a minister, and in an instance said “there cannot be a government official that is more corrupt than Amaechi”. His party, though, came to his defence, once saying: “If there is any clean and spotless former governor in Nigeria, that person is Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, CON.”

OGBONNAYA ONU: ANPP OR NOTHING

Onu is a finely-bred scholar and astute politician. An indigene of Ebonyi state, Onu is the first governor of Abia state. He presided over Abia between 1991 and 1993.

After obtaining a first-class degree from chemical engineering at University of Lagos, Onu proceeded to the University of California to bag a Ph.D. without having to do a Master’s.

Upon his return from the United States, he accepted a job at the University of Port Harcourt, eventually rising to become pioneer head of its department of chemical engineering.

He was acting dean of the university’s faculty of engineering and was appointed into the governing council of UNIPORT.

Consistency is rare in the Nigerian political space but Onu is an exception. From 1998 when the All Peoples Party (APP), which later metamorphosed into the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) was established, Onu remained in the party until 2013 when it entered into the alliance that gave birth to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

He became first presidential flagbearer of APP in 1999, and has also served as national chairman of the party.

IBE KACHIKWU: THE NNPC HELMSMAN

A first-class graduate of law from the University of Nigeria (UNN) and an indigene of Delta state, Kachikwu was appointed the group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in July.

Before his appointment, he worked as executive vice-chairman and general counsel of Exxon-Mobil (Africa).

A former investment attorney in the United States, he has published several magazine titles, including Hints, which was a household name in the 90s. He has also authored three published law books in investment law and contracts.

He started his working career with the Nigerian/American Merchant Bank before moving on to Texaco Nigeria Limited, where he remained for about eight years before joining ExxonMobil.

Based on Buhari’s recent revelation that he would be in charge of ministry of petroleum, Kachikwu is likely destined to be minister of state for petroleum.

UDO UDOMA: ERUDITE LAWYER, LAWMAKER

A graduate of Oxford University and a member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Udoma lectured at the University of Lagos and founded Udo Udoma and co (now Udo Udoma and Belo-Osagie) back in 1983.

Between 1999 and 2007, Udoma represented Akwa-Ibom south senatorial district in the national assembly. As a rigorous lawmaker, he was appointed to committees on public accounts, judiciary, banking and currency, science and technology, privatisation, drug and narcotics.

After leaving the senate, he was appointed chairman of the governing board of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). He also served as chairman of Union Bank, UAC, director of Unilever and vice-chairman of the Board of Linkage Assurance.

CHRIS NGIGE: BACK INTO RECKONING

The 63-year-old founding member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) bagged a degree in medicine from the University of Nigeria-Nsukka and worked at the national assembly and state house clinics early in his career, retiring as a deputy director in 1998.

Ngige was governor of Anambra state between May 2003 and March 2006, when his victory was nullified. He disagreed with Chris Uba, his benefactor, and also former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, whom he accused of conniving with Uba to oust him.

The crisis in the party endeared Ngige to his people, who believed he was being persecuted. When the court finally ruled against him, Ngige was still popular in his state.

Femi Adesina, special adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on media and publicity, who was the editor of The Sun newspaper during the period that Ngige was removed from office, described the ministerial nominee as a “king without kingdom”, in reference to the cult-like status that Ngige enjoyed despite his travails.

Despite the love of his people for him, all his attempts to return to the government house were unsuccessful. In 2010, Peter Obi, who succeeded him, also defeated him at the governroship election.

Ngige also lost to Willie Obiano, the incumbent governor, in 2013.

He contested the Anambra central senatorial district  election on the platform of the then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN)  and defeated Dora Akunyili of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the keenly contested poll in 2011 but he failed to return to the upper chamber, losing to Uche Ekwunife of the PDP.