Ministerial Appointment: How Buhari Dumped Oby Ezekwesili – Omojuwa

How Buhari quashed Oby Ezekwesili’s hope of getting ministerial appointment in 2015 has emerged.

NewsOne Nigeria  reports that Japheth Omojuwa, a blogger and social media influencer, has said the then All Progressives Congress candidate in the 2015 presidential election, Muhammadu Buhari, was expected to appoint a former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, as a member of his cabinet.

This online news platform understands that Omojuwa made this revelation in a letter dated April 14, 2021 was titled, ‘Demand For Full Disclosure And Public Apology By Mrs Obiageli Ezekwesili In Respect Of Alpha Reach Ltd’.

In the letter, Omojuwa said Ezekwesili played some role during the 2015 electioneering because of the expectation that she would be made a minister in Buhari’s cabinet but the President did not appoint the ex-minister as a member of his cabinet when he assumed office.

NewsOne Nigeria  recalls that Ezekwesili threatened to sue Omojuwa for alleged impersonation after she had expressed shock that she was listed as a director in Omojuwa’s media firm, Alpha Reach.

The revelation was made in a report by a foreign medium, BuzzFeed, which had exposed the role Omojuwa and other influencers allegedly played in the social media campaign for the release of alleged fraudster, Alex Saab, a Colombian who has been declared wanted in the United States and is facing extradition charges in Cape Verde.

Documents circulating online show that Omojuwa’s company, which was registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission in 2012, has Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, and Ezekwesili as directors.

The company, Alpha Reach, is believed to have played an active role in the campaign #FreeAlexSaab.

However, in the letter through his lawyer, Omojuwa said he sought Ezekwesili’s consent before he listed her as a director in his company.

The letter partly read, “Our client (Omojuwa) sought and obtained your client’s (Ezekwesili’s) consent before listing her as a Director of the company, based on their close relationship.”

The blogger said both El-Rufai and Ezekwesili were removed as directors of Alpha Reach Company in 2015 because it was sure that El-Rufai would become governor of Kaduna State and Ezekwesili would be appointed a minister in the regime of the President.

“It was not until 2015 when it was certain that HE Mallam El-Rufai was going to become the Governor of Kaduna State and the likelihood that your client (Ezekwesili) could be appointed a Minister by the then President-elect Muhammadu Buhari GCFR, that they were both removed as Directors of the company.

“You might recall that your client (Ezekwesili) honoured the ruling party’s (APC) invitation to deliver a keynote speech at a public forum in Abuja in 2014, and there was a general expectation that she would play a role in President Buhari’s government. Indeed, your client (Ezekwesili) leaned on our client (Omojuwa) to publish and distribute her speech at the APC forum,” the letter read.

The blogger, who said he has a 10-year relationship with the former minister beginning from 2012, further said the ex-minister told him in 2012 to “pull in your brother(s), Chine and Chuba (Ezekwesili’s biological sons) into what you do from now on.”

Omojuwa described Ezekwesili as a benefactor who “took him under her wings and even assisted in paying part of his rent in Abuja in 2012”. He, however, said his relationship with the ex-minister deteriorated because he is no longer the “impressionable boy” who can be controlled to fight social media wars by proxy.

The blogger concluded the letter by stating that he would only make the documents requested by Ezekwesili available if she writes an undertaken that the documents would be treated with utmost confidentiality.