Ministerial, other appointments: Lobbyists intensify efforts…As Oshiomhole joins President Buhari in London

Ministerial, other appointments: Lobbyists intensify efforts
…As Oshiomhole joins President Buhari in London

President Muhammadu Buhari who embarked on an 11-day working vacation to London has been joined by the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, Sunday Sun reliably gathered yesterday.

The president left the country on Thursday for the United Kingdom on a private visit.

Buhari, according to his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, is expected to return to the country on May 5.

But sources said that the president may have travelled out ostensibly to avoid pressure from lobbyists who have invaded the seat of power for ministerial and other political appointments.

The sources equally said that the APC chairman and the National Leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, have also been under intense pressure from lobbyists.

An impeccable source within the presidency, who confided in Sunday Sun, said that the president has resolved to source seasoned technocrats as members of his new cabinet, so that they can help him to actualize his agenda for the ‘Next Level,’ saying that part of the reasons he travelled was to avoid distraction by political jobbers, who have been mounting pressure on him.

It is, therefore, believed that the reported journey of Oshiomhole to London was to enable him and the president confer on the ministerial list and other key Federal appointments, devoid of pressure from lobbyists ahead of the inauguration of a new cabinet on May 29.

It was learnt that soon after the conduct of the general elections, Comrade Oshiomhole, has had to contend with lobbyists for Federal appointments.

The politicians seeking ministerial and other federal appointments were said to have invaded Abuja soon after the elections, with many of them banking on their contacts and relationship with the APC national chairman to scale through.

Many of them are said to have secured accommodations at the Federal Capital Territory to avoid paying huge hotel bills.

According to informed sources, these class of appointment seekers are determined to stay in Abuja to pursue their interest until the very end with occasional visits to their home states.

When contacted last night to confirm Oshiomhole’s journey to London, the Chief Press Secretary‎ to the APC national chairman, Mr Simon Ebegbulem, declined comment, and did not deny that his boss was in London.

(C) Sun Newspaper