Former Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State has handed car gifts to
key senators, including Senate President David Mark, in order to ease
his path to appointment as Nigeria’s new Aviation Minister.
President Goodluck Jonathan has promised the post of Aviation
Minister to Mr. Obi who in mid-March finished his second term as
governor. Mr. Obi, a leader of the All Peoples Grand Alliance (APGA), is
in line to be rewarded with a cabinet post for his political loyalty to
the incumbent president.
But Mr. Obi has been handing out cars and cash to senators after
discovering that there was significant opposition to him within the
ruling party.
After his exit from Government House, Awka, Mr. Obi’s name was touted
as a potential government appointee, first as a replacement for Pius
Anyim, a former senator and current Secretary of the Federal Government
who is believed to be seriously weighing a governorship race in Ebonyi
State. But several political heavyweights within the PDP moved against
Mr. Obi, two sources in the party said. One source disclosed that
several of the PDP’s top members, including its national chairman,
voiced their stance that an original member of the party, specifically
Jerry Ugokwe, should be tipped to take any post for which Mr. Obi was
being considered.
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