APC chieftain disowns group canvassing his appointment as minister

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom, Umana Umana, has disassociated himself from a publication calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint him a minister.

Mr Buhari, sworn-in ob Wednesday for a second term, is expected to name his new cabinet soon.

Politicians and their associates will be putting pressure on the president, lobbying for appointment.

Mr Umana, the managing director, Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority (OGFZA), in a statement issued on Wednesday by his media aide, Iboro Otongaran, said the group canvassing his appointment as a minister were not working on his behalf, as they did not have the “mandate to speak for him.”

“We also want to say that it is the prerogative of President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint whomever he chooses to serve in his cabinet. Nobody has the right to pressure or stampede him on such exercise of his official responsibility,” Mr Umana said in the statement.

“We would, therefore, like to advise the good people of Akwa Ibom State and members of the public in general to disregard the said publication in its entirety.”

Mr Umana, a former secretary to the Akwa Ibom State Government, was the 2015 APC governorship candidate in the state.