Buhari 2nd Term: Kyari, Mustapha, Ipaye Stay In Posts

72 hours after Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari was sworn in for another term of four years, there are indications that some of his close appointees and aides will not be leaving their posts yet.

Those who are still in office despite the president’s mandate renewal are those that do not require the Senate confirmation or are on tenured appointments.

So far, the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, is still holding sway at the Presidential Villa.

This also goes for the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha, Special Assistant on Media, Mallam Garba Shehu as well as the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President in the Office of the Vice President, Mr. Adeola Ipaye.

Unlike ministers and board members with tenured appointments who have since relinquished the offices, these ones are still holding forth leading to speculations in certain quarters that the president may not be in a hurry to change them.

“It seems we are back to 2015 when the president took several months to appoint key officials of his administration. One would have expected his announcing if the SGF and his eight advisers are staying,” a high profile official of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who asked not to be named told The WHISTLER in Abuja.

The president had indicated that he would be fast about appointments in his second term after earning himself the title of “Mr. Go-Slow” in his first term in office.

Speaking in an interview with The Guardian newspaper recently, Adesina had indicated that the president will be prompt in his appointments.

He said: “What makes it better is that the leadership of the outgoing government is the same as the incoming one. Ministers had been told to turn in their stewardship reports by April 24, and I believe all of them complied. The valedictory Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting will hold on May 24, and different committees are working on the May 29 inauguration ceremony. Things are shaping up beautifully.

“The circumstances are no longer the same. So, there would be no delay. When you land in the mud of poor and delayed handover notes as happened in 2015, with a vandalised economy and a polity with different types of challenges, the delay would be understandable. But now, we have the good fortune of transition from government to government headed by the same President and Vice President, things can then be done more expeditiously.

“The party will surely have a stake and voice in who makes the cabinet, but it won’t lord or impose things on the President. The President is a member of the party, and the party will have its dues, but the buck still stops at the President’s table.”

However, for now, it seems Mr. Adesina is out of his post since he is yet to sign any statement on behalf of the government.

In April, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti state, Olusegun Osinkolu, had urged President Buhari to ensure the timely constitution of his executive council on assumption of office for the second term.

Osinkolu, who was the director-general of the Buhari/Osinbajo Campaign Organisation in the state, said prompt constitution of the cabinet would hasten the implementation of government’s policies and programmes.

“In the first term of President Buhari that is gradually coming to an end, it took the President over six months before the ministers were appointed,” he said.

“We have to change gear this time and guard against delay in the composition of Federal Executive Council members for the second term.

“Nigerians are hopeful that the second term would afford the APC the opportunity to consolidate on its policies and programmes and it would be foolhardy for the party to delay actions, for there won’t be any excuse for failure in 2023.”