Posted by By ISMAIL OMIPIDAN, Abuja on
Rumours that President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua would jettison the original ministerial list sent to him by Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State is now causing tension and confusion in the State, as the minorities have started feeling short-changed by their Hausa-Fulani kinsmen.
Rumours that President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua would jettison the original ministerial list sent to him by Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State is now causing tension and confusion in the State, as the minorities have started feeling short-changed by their Hausa-Fulani kinsmen.
Following the request by the President that governors should forward the list of nominees from their various States, the Adamawa State Governor, Daily Sun gathered, was said to have sent the names of former labour leader and governorship aspirant in the State, Comrade Paschal Bafyau, former Lagos military administrator and presidential aspirant, Brigadier-General Buba Marwa (Rtd), and Dr. Idi Aliyu Hong, who is the state's party secretary and a personal assistant to Senator Jubril Aminu, to the President for consideration.
But rather than pick from the list submitted to him, the President was alleged to have practically begged the governor to allow him nominate one Hassan Tukur, who is said to be a career diplomat, to represent the State.
One of the PDP chieftains from the State who spoke to Daily Sun said one thing the original nominees sent to the President had in common was that they are all minorities in the State, adding that only one of them is a Christian.
He said: 'When we were preparing for the governorship elections, our Muslim brothers argued that since Boni Haruna, a Christian, had ruled the State for eight years, it was only fair for a Muslim to take over from him. We allowed it and that was why even when Joel Madaki, the former party chairman defected to Labour Party and contested against Nyako, his people voted against him.
'Having done that and having been at the fore-front of the campaign to whittle down the influence of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in the State, the minorities should have been compensated. Now we are not talking about religion, but we are interested in ensuring that a minority gets that position and not another Hausa-Fulani.
'From the first republic till date, no minority from the State has been made minister.
'Don't also forget that Bafyau, who was Yar'Adua's co-coordinator in the State, had collapsed on the day of the rally because he overworked himself and became fatigued. The way things are now, people are just praying that the tribunals should upturn any of the elections, that is when they will see the true colours of the people.
'The most annoying thing is that if you take a list of 1, 000 persons qualified to be minister today from Adamawa State, you can never find Hassan Tukur's name there because he is unknown."