Intense lobbying is on by top politicians ahead of the announcement of the cabinet of Bayelsa State governor, Senator Douye Diri, our correspondent reports.
Politicians in the state have intensified lobby for themselves, or their own, to be included in the new government.
Governor Diri has been running the state without a cabinet for the past five months after his swearing-in on February 14, 2020, as the fifth executive governor of the state.
Daily Trust gathered that the cabinet may be dominated by loyalists and allies of former governor Seriake Dickson who installed Governor Diri as his successor.
The governor had on Thursday during a meeting with traditional rulers in the state, disclosed that his cabinet nominees would be known from this week in line with 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Already, politicians close to the ex-governor are lobbying to ensure their names are included in Diri’s government.
Observers said Dickson’s men may have the upper hand in the expected cabinet as they were in the forefront of his campaign for the November 16, 2019 governorship election.
For instance, Chief Collins Cocodia, then commissioner for Labour and Employment under Dickson was a campaign manager and he is expected to make the cabinet.
Also, Dickson’s men like Mr Jonathan Obuebite, Maxuel Ebibai, Fynman Wilson, who were all part of Dickson’s government played vital roles in the emergence of Governor Diri and may likely make the cabinet list. Mr Ebibai who was the Commissioner for Finance under Dickson is currently the Technical Adviser on finance to Governor Diri.
Similarly, politicians close to former President Goodluck Jonathan are said to have also used the former president’s influence to gain a place in Diri’s government.
A source in Diri’s government told Daily Trust that the reason for the delay in forming the cabinet was because of some litigations challenging his emergence as governor and his determination to ensure that all stakeholders were properly consulted.
