The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Immediate past governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje, has thrown more light into the withdrawal of Maryam Shetty from President Bola Tinubu’s ministerial nomination.
The withdrawal of the 30-year-old Dr. Shetty’s nomination while awaiting her screening by the Senate last week and her replacement with Mariya Mahmoud, also from Kano, had raised a lot of dust with many fingering the Ganduje family as the brain behind the dropping of Shetty.
But in an interview on Sunday night on Freedom Radio, Ganduje alleged that Shetty’s name was smuggled into the ministerial list as she is not a known person in the APC in the state.
“But what happened in this case is that we were not consulted. So we just heard her name on air. Initially, we didn’t complain, taking into consideration that Mr President has the right to appoint anyone. And as loyalists of the president who understand democracy, we accepted his choice,” Ganduje said.
“Also, the President’s attention was drawn to the social media reactions that followed her nomination. Sometimes people take actions, thinking they won’t be caught. But you will be surprised that all your actions are in the public domain. That’s what happened in this case.
“But again, we don’t know her, and since we don’t know her, we can’t vouch for her competency for the job.
“In the process of appointing ministers, the president has people who will advise him from different states. Also, it is the prerogative of the president to appoint whoever he deems fit as minister.
“He also has the right to consult people from the state, because they are the ones who know the people who are fit to occupy such office.
“The reactions became so intense, and people were questioning her competency, and worthiness to represent Kano State.
“These concerns were not raised by Ganduje, but the masses. The president was also shown the social media reactions, and he sought my opinion.
“Clearly, I told him, I don’t know who she is. He asked if there was a need to replace her, and I answered in the affirmative.
“Because these kinds of positions need someone with integrity, the person must also understand the job, and thirdly, what role did the person play in the formation of the government?
“So if you look at these qualities, we were the ones that needed to be consulted for any appointments coming from Kano State.
“Even though I don’t know all the competent people from Kano, at least our advice needs to be sought when people make recommendations, but that didn’t happen in this case.
“So the president gave us the opportunity to make a replacement with the emphasis that it must be a woman. After consultation with critical stakeholders, we settled for the new nominee, Dr. Mariya Mahmoud Bunkure. From hearing the name, Bunkure, You know where she hailed from.”
