President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed and forwarded the names of the Dean of the Faculty of management sciences at the Kogi state university, Anyigba, Professor Stephen I. Ocheni and former chairman of Gombe State Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Hassan Suleiman to the Senate for confirmation as ministers.
They are appointed to take the place of late minister of State for Labour, James Ocholi who died in an accident and minister of environment, Amina Mohammed, who was appointed and is now serving as Deputy Secretary of the United Nations (UN) in New York.
Ocheni, a professor of public sector accounting/Dean, Faculty of management sciences at the Kogi state university, Anyigba, was born at Uwowo, Igalamela/Odolu Local Government Area of Kogi State on 25th June 1959.
He attended Howard University, Washington,DC, USA 2006.
Professor Ocheni is regarded as one of the foremost advocates of the Treasury Single Account policy
He was the chairman of the Fiscal Responsibility Committee inaugurated in May 2016 by governor Yahaya Bello.
He is a Fellow of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (FCNA)
Member, Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (ACTI)
Fellow, Institute of Chartered Economists of Nigeria (FCE)
He was director (Finance & Accounts) Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abuja 2003 —2010 , Director, Office of the Accountant General of the Federation Abuja. Sept 1998 — Nov 2003, Permanent Secretary, Kogi State. 1997- 1998.
The second nominee, Hassan Suleiman is believed to have a history of interfering with governance in his native Gombe state.
He was part of the members of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change in Gombe State who recently formed a group, Adalchi, to broaden support for President Muhammadu Buhari and ensure better representation in the All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership in the state.
His group ensured that the APC in Gombe State broke into two factions, with each suspending members of the other from the party.
Sulaiman Hassan was said to have been earlier nominated for ambassadorial appointment by President Buhari and that the nomination triggered the launch of the new group: “the Adalci group” by others to get attention from the president, who was the leader of the defunct CPC.
The Suleiman faction of CPC members decided to regroup to resist the activities of party leaders in the state, who they accused of jeopardising the efforts and policies of the Buhari-led federal government and marginalising them in the state.
He is regarded as a core grassroots politician. [myad]
