Political Office Seekers Lay Siege To Abuja

Abuja, the Federal Capital is under siege as political office seekers have overrun the place, pursuing persons and groups they feel have the power and influence to get their names on the list as nominees for top positions in the Bola Tinubu government.
And they are not moving alone. Some are moving with a contingent of religious leaders to help open doors to them.
A reliable source in Abuja told this National Point that the push is tough and heavy.
“I’m not surprised the president moved to Lagos to mark the Salah. From morning to night people are running back and forth, from one office to another running after big shots, friends of the president, anyone who can put in a word for them.
“Nobody is minding the rain or if it is cold. Religious leaders, groups are making gains off the process as people are claiming to be praying and pushing for them. I saw a very stingy top government official surprisingly approve huge payment for a prayer group who claimed to be praying for ministerial appointment for him. There are others just going round Abuja collecting money from these office canvassers,” the very reliable source informed.
As it is, persons directly linked to the president are considered even surer bets for success.
The Guardian reported that politicians who laid ambush on his Bourdillon residence in Ikoyi, Lagos only had the president’s aides to receive them as the number one man had escaped to a newly refurbished ‘White House’ on 4, Queen’s Drive where many were refused entry.
The president who is inundated with requests for appointments is said to have cancelled many appointments claiming he needed to, “attend to some pressing national demands and also needed more time to rest following his trip to France and the UK’. Pundits believe the foreign trips were partly designed to give him breathing space from the canvassers.
Some of them who in desperation followed him to Lagos as well as All Progressives Congress chieftains, could not gain entry into his new base. Some even had to go back with their Salah gifts.
Up for grabs are ministerial positions, positions for senior assistants and over 2,000 board memberships, which canvassers see as reward for their hard work in the electioneering process that brought the APC candidate on board.
Deciding who to take in especially as ministers seems a herculean task for Tinubu as he is seen to have gone into many alliances to secure the seat and his party leaders and trusted aides are still expectant. Nigerians also expect him to be wiser in choice than his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari whose incompetent government left Nigeria as the poverty capital of the world with a staggering N49 trillion debt portfolio.
For example, in Rivers State three men are jostling for ministerial attention – ex-governor Nyesom Wike who literally sold the state to Tinibu to spite PDP’s Abubakar Atiku, the president’s long-time ‘boy’ Senator Magnus Abe who equally garnered support for him, and oil business magnate, Tein Jackrich of Belema Oil. Choosing will be tough. Although Jackrich has recently been licensed to import and export oil by the federal government, he is reported to be pushing hard, using his wife’s connections while ubiquitous Wike has been using every available arsenal including the media and direct visits to press home his desire.
Drawn between what Nigerians, the APC and the office canvassers want, Tinubu might rely on a principle he had earlier hinted on, “I will look for talents who are better than me”.
According to the president who had courageously declared an end to fuel subsidy without back-up plans, “I’m not afraid to bring on board persons with higher wisdom because the most important thing to me is to get the job done for the betterment of all”.
Meanwhile, in the midst of cries of pain and inability to celebrate the Salah in high spirit, President Tinubu has urged Nigerians to have faith that God will not give the country a burden it cannot carry. He projected that Nigeria will experience peace, stability and prosperity.
Tinubu, who spoke to reporters after observing the Eid-el-Kabir prayers on Wednesday at the Dodan Barracks prayer ground, called for unity and cooperation as he urged Nigerians to rise against ethnic and religious rivalries.
He stressed the need for sacrifices and prayed for victory for Nigerian forces at warfronts.
“May our sacrifices turn to prosperity. We have to make sacrifices and that is clear.
“Allah will not give you a burden that you cannot carry. He is there for us. We must have faith in the country, have faith in ourselves, believing that as citizens of this country, we must join hands to build the nation. No religious identity, no tribal identity; let us live with one another in joy and prosperity. Nigeria will see peace and stability,” he said.