The shocking withdrawal of Kano politician, Maryam Shetty, from the ministerial list submitted to the Senate by President Bola Tinubu, has continued to attract comments from both political pundits and the general public.
Why Maryam Shetty’s withdrawal was described by many as particularly shocking is the fact she was already within the National Assembly complex, awaiting her screening, when she was informed that she had been dropped. Shetty was clearly taken unawares by the withdrawal of her name during senate plenary.
The politician and her supporters were told at the gate of the senate that her name had been replaced with that of Mahmoud, sources told City People. The lady was said to have been in utter disbelief of the news of her withdrawal. She had difficulty processing the news. Many felt it was insensitive of the presidency to have humiliated her the way they did and several sympathisers took to social media to register their displeasure over the handling of the issue by the presidency.
Shortly after the news of her withdrawal went viral, former Kano State Governor and National Chairman of the APC, Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje, offered some insight as to the possible reason why the beautiful and intelligent Maryam Shetty was dropped. In an interview with select radio stations a day after Shetty’s withdrawal, Ganduje said Shetty was dropped because people questioned her suitability.
He added that social media is very powerful. Ganduje explained that ministerial appointments should go to someone with integrity, knowledge, experience and commitment to the party and what the candidate contributed to the making of Tinubu’s administration.
He said, “The president has advisors on selection of ministerial nominees at the national and state levels. The president has the prerogative to nominate whomever he wishes and he has the right to consult people in states because they know those capable of discharging the duties.
“Maryam Shetty’s name emerged from the top, and since Mr President has the right to do as he wishes and we are his followers, one has to be patient; we did not object to it. As well, she was not well-known to us. We could not appraise her.
“But suddenly, she (Maryam Shetty) came under attack on social media. People questioned her integrity and experience, with many of them doubting her credentials to represent Kano at the national level. There were growing disaffections. The dissatisfaction is not from Ganduje, but the people of Kano.
“President Bola Tinubu’s attention was drawn to the torrent of criticisms greeting Shetty’s nomination. The president asked whether I had nominated Maryam Shetty. I said no. He asked how then her name appeared on the list. I told him I had no idea whatsoever.
“When he asked whether there was a need to replace her, I answered in affirmative, because the ministerial slot requires someone with integrity, knowledge, experience and commitment to the party – what one contributed to the making of the Tinubu administration. To satisfy these requirements, we are in the best position to nominate somebody from Kano. Even if someone recommended somebody, we should have been consulted on the matter.
“For this, we were given a chance to nominate someone from Kano and since the slot was meant for a female, we consulted widely. Females had contributed to our development agenda in Kano State. Dr Mariya Bunkure, my commissioner for higher education, is a certified medical doctor. Kano South had been complaining about marginalization, even though I gave them SSG and other important political offices. These are some of the reasons we gave her name.
“But at least we are happy because the people of Kano are happy with the current development. The clarification is not to insult anybody but to tell the truth of what exactly happened. People questioned her suitability that was why he was dropped, but that does not mean she will not get another appointment.”
This explanation did not seem to placate those who felt sympathy for the embarrassed Maryam Shetty. Many felt there must’ve been some politically motivated reason behind it. At some point, it was speculated that Maryam had criticised Ganduje publicly and on her social media handles in the past, and this was said to be the reason why Ganduje influenced her withdrawal when he allegedly told Mr. President that he didn’t know Maryam Shetty. But going by City People investigation, there was actually a lot more to the embarrassing withdrawal meted out to Maryam Shetty.
According to City People findings, social media trail has shown that, last year, Shetty threw her support behind Osinbajo in his bid for the APC presidential ticket. She was literally embedded in his campaign for the presidency. She was a staunch supporter of the former vice president and she never hid the fact that, between him and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, he was her preference. This revelation, it was said, was brought to the attention of the President, demanding that there were more ladies in Kano who supported him and were more deserving of the ministerial position. They did not just tell the President who are preference was, they showed him her many tweets, which indicated where her loyalty and support laid at the time. And, many will recall Ganduje’s words when he said:
“Ministerial appointments should go to someone with integrity, knowledge, experience and commitment to the party and what the candidate contributed to the making of Tinubu’s administration.” In other words, he meant, Maryam Shetty was probably deemed not to have worked for the President during the presidential campaign period and this certainly worked against her, more so when she was a known supporter of the former vice president, Yemi Osinbajo.
Below are some of her tweets:
In April of 2022, Shetty tweeted: “I have had the tremendous pleasure of accompanying His Excellency Prof Osinbajo to Edo and Delta States respectively, to talk to the delegates. The Oba of Benin accolades were simply epic and an unblemished truth.”
———@MaryamShetty (@maryamshetty) April 29, 2022
She also shared the video of the former Vice-President declaring his intention to run for president on April 11, 2022.
All of these were too overwhelming evidences to ignore. They showed clearly that the former vice president was Shetty’s choice and not the eventual winner, President Bola Tinubu. And, this obviously did not go down well with people around Mr. President. They ensured that she lost her golden opportunity to become a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and even though Ganduje says she may get another opportunity soon, truth is, that may not happen in a very long while.
