As the jostling for ministerial appointments in the cabinet of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu intensifies ahead the July 28 deadline for submission to the National Assembly, a group, the All Progressives Congress Youth Development and Solidarity Forum (APC-YDSF) has canvassed support for one of the party’s financiers, Dr. Micheal Achadu.
Tinubu is expected to forward names of ministerial nominees to the Senate for confirmation on or before July 28, 2023, to beat the deadline stipulated by law.
The group, at the weekend, said the nomination of Achadu would send a positive message to members that the APC as a party rewards loyalty, dedication and commitment.
President of the APC-YDSF, Tobias Ogbe, said that it would be honourable for Tinubu to reward those who spent their personal resources, time and energy to ensure victory for the party across the country.
Ogbe expressed dismay that some of those currently jostling for appointments around the Presidency did little or nothing to make the party reclaim Benue in the last general election after it suffered a colossal defeat in 2019.
“In the 2019 general election, Benue State APC lost the governorship and the three senatorial seats to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Of the 11 House of Representatives seats, the APC won only the Gboko/Tarka Federal Constituency seat. In the state House of Assembly, of the 30 seats, the APC only mustered eight. However, in the 2023 general election, the APC won the governorship and two senatorial seats as well as 22 House of Assembly seats.
“We are aware of those currently lobbying for appointments. But we must tell ourselves the truth; some of them could not even deliver their polling units or wards during the last elections.
“Some of them during the build-up to the presidential primaries in 2022, when we were almost stranded and needed a boost financially to continue our activities in support of Tinubu; we approached many of them in Benue, Kogi, Niger, even in the south, but they failed us.
“It was Achadu who singlehandedly released fund that was used to prosecute the elections of APC and that of Tinubu in Okpokwu Local Council of Benue State.”
Asked if Achadu had indicated interest in becoming a minister and if he has the capacity to deliver when given the task, the group said of all the names from Benue State being projected, Achadu remains the most competent with the technical know-how to occupy such a position.
The group said that Achadu has over 20 years working experience in the corporate sector, managing and developing big brands for multinational companies across Africa with a workforce of over 3,500 staff spread across the 774 local councils of the country.
