There are strong indications that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu might give an additional ministerial slot to Kaduna State as part of political calculation to make further inroad into the North and to compensate the North West zone in particular for voting massively for him in the 2023 presidential election.
A credible presidency source, who sought anonymity, told reporters in Kaduna that a former governorship candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Hon Sani Shaaban, was being considered for the second ministerial slot for the state.
Shaaban, a former member of the House of Representatives and an ally of President Tinubu was the ACN governorship candidate in Kaduna State during the 2011 governorship election won by the PDP candidate, the late Sir Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa.
Shaaban, a chartered accountant by profession, is also an international businessman and a member of the Royal House in Zaria, Kaduna State.
Although the source said the president is stuck between picking the second minister from either Kaduna or Kano state, he said the odds favour Shaaban due to his close relationship with the president and also as a foundation member of the ACN, founded by Tinubu while he was governor of Lagos State.
According to the source, with the appointment of Nasir El-Rufai, which did not go down well with some people, picking Shaaban as the second minister from Kaduna, would not only bring about the desired stability in the North, but will also galvanise more support base for his re- election in 2027.
It was also argued that the choice of Shaaban from Kaduna State is based on the fact that the deputy senate president, Senator Barau Jibril and former governor Abdullahi Ganduje who has been reportedly anointed by Tinubu as the next national chairman of APC are both from Kano State.
During the recent lesser Hajj in Mecca, Shaaban was said to have met with Tinubu in Saudi Arabia in the company of the national security adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu.
