Gov Masari readmits four cabinet members after they lost election

Katsina State Governor, Aminu Bello Masari, has readmitted into his cabinet two commissioners and two Special Advisers who resigned their appointments in line with the new electoral act to contest for elective positions in the recently held All Progressives Congress (APC) primaries.

Governor Masari said the decision to return them was premised on the ground that they are still a vital part of the APC family.

Recall that the former Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Farouk Lawal Jobe, and his counterpart, Mustapha Mahmud in charge of Rural Development contested for the party’s governorship ticket, seat and lost.

Similarly, while the returned erstwhile Special Adviser on Political matters, Kabir Shaibu contested for the Katsina Senatorial ticket and lost, his counterpart, the Special Adviser on Economic Empowerment, Abdulkadir Mamman Nasir also failed to secure the House of Representative ticket for Malumfashi/Kafur constituency.

The Governor, speaking at the swearing-in ceremony held on Wednesday said, “There is very little to say beyond welcoming them back.

They left to contest for various elective positions and were unsuccessful. However, they remain part of us wherever they are. So, we feel the best thing to do is to request them to come back and they obliged to continue from where they stopped.

“When the Deputy Governor wanted to contest the office of the Governor, he relinquished his position and assignment as Commissioner for Agriculture which we realised later was uncalled for.

“With the new Electoral Act, everybody wanted to play safe. I have directed the Secretary to the State Government that the Deputy Governor should continue his assignment as Commissioner for Agriculture and he need not be sworn in.”

The Katsina Governor further explained that “there are still two more vacancies that need to be filled, that of late Nasir Rabe and the Commissioner for Sports Development, assuring that it will be taken care of in the next two weeks.