Sources close to Tinubu say Masari’s role in the negotiations that birthed the APC, negotiations which started in October 2010, and culminated in the formation of the party on February 6, 2013, is the stuff of a mature mind and one set to ensure that a matter reaches its logical conclusion. That role earned him the position of founding Deputy National Chairman of APC (North)
This expose on the powers and influence of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, OSGF will show that the office is very powerful, and President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu must get it right by appointing an unblemished individual and one that can be trusted.
In the opaque world of Nigeria’s politics, the undercurrents in the ensuing contestation for the job are already setting a tone for the type of power play that may herald the Tinubu administration.
Yet, as the president-elect grapples with the contemporary realities of the larger Nigerian space – different from tiny Lagos – there are indications that he will make a choice that will serve the ethos of decency, service and clear-headedness.
This report presents the powers of the OSGF as well as the chances of the major contenders in the unfolding power play.
In a 2011 document detailing the responsibilities of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, OSGF, which was published by Vanguard in May 2011, the full complement of the powers of that office was laid bare. It revealed, perhaps, for the first time, the powers inherent in that office. Traversing over two dozen spheres of control, the occupier of the office packs a punch.
Therefore, on August 25, 2019, at the height of the controversy which raged about the pre-eminence of one above the other, regarding the office of the Chief of Staff to the President on the one hand, and the OSGF on the other, Mallam Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari, had said, “the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, is responsible for ensuring the effective coordination and monitoring of the implementation of government policies and programmes. All cabinet matters must go through him.” To date, there have been 19 SGFs. The incumbent is Boss Gidahyelda Mustapha.
OSGF and its Strategic Importance
Sometime in August 2014, just after the submission of the report of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s National Conference, which was meant to address “inclusive national consensus on the structure and guiding principles of the state,” the OSGF, with former Senate President Anyim Pius Anyim as the incumbent, was insinuated into a scenario that has since left observers wondering why the report was never implemented by Jonathan.
The conference was inaugurated on March 17, 2014, and had the late Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi as Chairman, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi as Vice Chairman and Dr Valerie Azinge as Secretary, and 492 delegates. According to some of the leaders of the conference, a certain minority report was suggested but never saw the light of day on the floor of the conference.
Whereas the said minority report was meant to be smuggled into the final conference document, a final document which enjoyed the benefit of consensual agreement of all members, it was the furious and instantaneous outburst of the late Yinka Odumakin against the minority document that sang its nunc diminish. Yet, when it was suggested that the report, too, be presented on the floor for consensual adoption, the promoter demurred. Unsatisfied, the promoter of the report allegedly worked through the OSGF to convince the former President that the implementation should be delayed until after the 2015 general elections.
That way, according to one of the very prominent leaders in the secretariat of the conference who kicked against the minority report, the perquisites of the OSGF would be maintained until after the elections. Jonathan reportedly swallowed the bait.
And that was how the national conference report was not implemented by Jonathan. This was the genesis of why then-incoming President Muhammadu Buhari refused to act on it because those around him were very aware of what went down and, therefore, decided not to touch the document with anything. Whether Anyim Pius knew about this or not is another matter.
Version
However, at a book launch in June last year, Jonathan, who was represented by Pius Anyim, while giving his version of why he did not implement the conference report, said his government had already lost control of the House of Representatives by the time the report was submitted in August 2014. He insisted that the mass defection led by then-Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, made it impossible to send the report to the National Assembly.
Tambuwal, currently Sokoto State governor, had dumped the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, on October 28, 2014, and defected to the All Progressives Congress, APC. He is back in the PDP. After defecting from the PDP at the time, Tambuwal adjourned the sitting of the House to December 3, 2014.
Between the two versions of why Jonathan did not implement the report of his conference, the OSGF remains central as it was supposed to be “responsible for ensuring the effective coordination and monitoring of the implementation of government policies and programmes”.
Powers of the Office
The responsibilities of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, OSGF, are enormous.
More specifically, the office undertakes the following responsibilities:-
i) Coordinating policy design and formulation by Ministries, Departments and Agencies for approval by Government;
ii) Serving as Secretary to the Council of State, the Federal Executive Council and other Constitutional Councils, which are chaired by the President;
iii) Coordinating the activities of Ministries and Government Agencies on the implementation of Government decisions, policies and programmes;
iv) Dealing with constitutional, political and socio-economic matters as may be referred to the Presidency;
v) Administrative Tribunals, Commissions and Panels of Enquiry;
vi) Coordinating national security and public safety matters;
vii) National Honours Award;
viii) Prerogative of Mercy;
ix) Protocol Matters;
x) Channeling of papers and directives of the President;
xi) Processing and granting Government approval for Overseas Tours, Intergovernmental Meetings/Conferences, medical check-up/treatment by Public Officers;
xii) Processing requests for Overseas Duty Tours/Conferences including medical check-up/treatment abroad for members of the Judiciary, Chairmen and Members of Statutory Commissions/Bodies for approval by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria;
xiii) Coordinating the appointments to Headship of Statutory Bodies, Commissions and Agencies by the President;
xiv) Dealing with matters relating to conditions of service of political office holders;
xv) Intergovernmental Affairs and relations with State and Local Governments;
xvi) Liaison with Secretaries to State Governments;
xvii) Allocation of Office accommodation to Political Office Holders.
But, that is not all that he does. In terms of the structure of that office, there is more.
In discharging the aforementioned responsibilities, the OSGF is structured into the following offices, each headed by a Permanent Secretary. There are six such offices:
*Cabinet Secretariat;
*General Services Office;
*Political Affairs Office;
*Economic Affairs Office;
*Special Services Office;
*Special Duties Office.
Then there are the supervisory roles that have also been lumped together in that office and the list is legion.
The following Parastatals/Agencies are supervised by the OSGF as listed in that 2011 document: (i) Ecological Fund; (ii) National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP); (iii) National Economic Intelligence Committee; (iv) Presidential Advisory Council; (v) Code of Conduct Tribunal; (vi) Code of Conduct Bureau; (vii) Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency; (viii) National Hospital; (ix) Federal Road Safety Commission; (x) National Commission for Refugees; (xi) Nigerian National Volunteer Service (NNVS); (xii) Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC); (xiii) South-South Health Care Programme; (xiv) National Agency for Control of AIDS (NACA); (xv) National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC); (xvi) Ministry of Special Duties; (xvii) Secretariat of the Presidential Council (PAC); (xviii) Secretariat of the Presidential Committee on National Identification Systems, Consumer Credit and Outsourcing initiative; (xix) Galaxy backbone; (xx) NIMC; (xxi) Christian Pilgrims Commission; (xxii) National Hajj Commission.
However, by August 2019, President Buhari created the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development. The National Identity Management Commission, NIMC, was also moved to the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy.
Enter Bola Ahmed Tinubu
As president-elect, Bola Tinubu has been inundated with pressures from different camps and persons angling to become the SGF. And whereas there is no official statement yet as to where the office would be zoned, there are strong indications that the North-West geo-political zone may get it.
If and when zoned to the North-West, some issues would naturally come up, viz: Who are the contenders? What have they contributed or what did they contribute to Tinubu’s victory? What can any of them contribute to his presidency? How do they stand (what are their chances)? What should Tinubu be looking out for?
Being a man imbued with his unique approach to statecraft, Tinubu is said to know what he wants and how to get it. Some of the known contenders have been sending emissaries to the president-elect. Some have visited under the guise of welcoming him back to the country after his thirty-something-day vacation to rest.
Sources close to Tinubu say he has a set of criteria he is looking out for Commitment to serve, diligence, loyalty, competence and a history devoid of unnecessary controversy. Because of the radical nature of the types of reforms, he plans to engage in once he is sworn in, those close to Defence House, his temporary residence, say he wants an SGF who is level-headed and diligent and not one given to unnecessary controversies, controversies which may obfuscate the essence of government policies if ventilated in a manner that evokes suspicion from the Nigerian public.
Still, feelers are rife that the stature of Tinubu’s Chief of Staff could determine the effectiveness or otherwise of the SGF. In a situation where the President and Commander-in-Chief decides to alter the status quo and move some responsibilities into his office where his Chief of Staff takes charge, the SGF may not be as powerful as would have been, judging from the established roles and responsibilities.
Contenders