Wike, Oyetola, el-Rufai… nine former governors on Tinubu’s ministerial list

On Wednesday, President Bola Tinubu sent the list of the second batch of ministerial nominees to the senate for screening.

In a request sent to the senate, the president is asking for the approval of 19 more nominees to join his cabinet.

On July 27, Tinubu forwarded a list of 28 nominees to the red chamber for screening and confirmation.

If the 47 ministerial nominees are confirmed, Tinubu would have the largest cabinet in Nigeria’s democratic history.

TheCable Index analysed the list of nominees, matching them with their states of origin and former designations, and found that nine of the nominees are former governors.

Our analysis also shows that the All Progressives Congress (APC) governors who lost elections (except Ayade of Cross River) have now been nominated to be included in Tinubu’s cabinet as ministers.

Here is the list of nominated former governors and their brief profiles.

NYESOM WIKE — RIVERS STATE

Ezenwo Nyesom Wike is the immediate past governor of Rivers state. He served in that capacity from 2015 to 2023.

Prior to that, he was appointed minister of state for education on July 14, 2011, and later acting minister of education.

DAVID UMAHI — EBONYI STATE

David Nweze Umahi is the current senator representing Ebonyi south senatorial district.

He served as the governor of the state from 2015 to 2023, and as deputy governor from 2011 to 2015.

NASIR EL-RUFAI — KADUNA STATE

Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai is the immediate past governor of Kaduna state. He served two terms from 2015 to 2023.

In 1999, after Olusegun Obasanjo won the election to interrupt years of military rule, el-Rufai was appointed director of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), and the secretary of the National Council on Privatisation.

He would go on to spearhead the privatisation of several government-owned corporations alongside Atiku Abubakar, a former vice-president.

He also served as minister of the federal capital territory (FCT) from 2003 to 2007.

MOHAMMED BADARU — JIGAWA STATE

Mohammed Badaru Abubakar served as governor of Jigawa state from 2015 to 2023.

He was the chairman of the presidential committee on fertiliser, an initiative established by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2016.

BELLO MATAWALLE — ZAMFARA STATE

Matawalle was the governor of Zamfara from 2019 to 2023.

Between 1999 and 2003, he served as the state commissioner for local government and chieftaincy affairs, commissioner for environment, rural development, and then commissioner for youth and sports.

Matawalle was elected into the house of representatives in May 2003 on the platform of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).

He was re-elected in 2007 and would later defect to the PDP where he was re-elected for a third term in 2011.

In 2021, Matawalle, along with all three Zamfara senators, six of seven representatives, and all 24 house of assembly members, officially defected to the APC.

SIMON LALONG — PLATEAU STATE

Lalong served as governor of Plateau from 2015 to 2023, after discarding legal practice to pursue a career in politics in 1998.

Representing the PDP, he successfully contested in his native Shendam constituency and became a lawmaker in the Plateau state house of assembly.

In October 2000, he became the speaker of the assembly, occupying that position until 2006, following political upheaval within the house.

The seven years in which he served as the speaker made him the longest-serving speaker of the house in the history of the state. 

GBOYEGA OYETOLA — OSUN STATE

Adegboyega Isiaka Oyetola served as governor of Osun from 2018 to 2022.

He contested for the Osun state gubernatorial seat on the platform of the APC in the September 2018 governorship election and won.

On March 23, 2019, a tribunal ruled that he was not validly elected and ordered INEC to issue certificates of return to Ademola Adeleke of the PDP, which was contested at the court of appeal.

Prior to his winning the election, he was the chief of staff to Rauf Aregbesola, his predecessor.

Oyetola lost his re-election bid to Adeleke in 2022.

IBRAHIM GAIDAM — YOBE STATE

In 1995, Ibrahim Gaidam left the civil service when he was appointed commissioner for youths and sports, and later the commissioner of commerce and industries.

From 1997 to 2007, he was a director in the state finance ministry and permanent secretary in various other ministries.

He served the state as the governor between 2009 to 2019 and has been the incumbent senator of Yobe east senatorial district since June 2019.

ATIKU BAGUDU — KEBBI STATE

Abubakar Atiku Bagudu served as governor of Kebbi between May 2015 and May 2023.

Previously, he served as the senator for the Kebbi state central constituency.