Former Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Selcap Dalung did not make it to the yet-to-take-off Cabinet of President Mohammadu Buhari.
A woman, Pauline Tallen took the Plateau State slot.
Though news of Dalung not making the list has been trending on twitter, not a few Nigerians are happy he didn’t get the appointment.
Dalung, who hails from Plateau State, had boasted in June 2019 that he was unstoppable and as a moving train, his re-appointment as a second term minister cannot be stopped except God himself was against his return.
Speaking with The PUNCH last month, he said, “No, there is nobody born of a woman that can stop my appointment if God wants it to be. I am not carried away by such sentiments.”
But when the ministerial list was out earlier today, his name was missing.
Dalung, 54, started his political Career as a Personal Assistant to Chief Solomon Lar, CON, when Lar was appointed as Adviser Emeritus to President Olusegun Obasanjo until 2003. In 2007, he was appointed the Chairman of Langtang South Local Government Area up till May 2008. In his position as Local Government Chairman, he served as the Plateau State Deputy Chairman of the Association of Local Government Chairmen of Nigeria (ALGON) and later as the Chairman of the Association. After his tenure as Local Government Chairman, he made an attempt at representing Langtang North and South at the National Assembly but lost. He was a member of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) and was also member of President Muhammadu Buhari’s Transitional Committee.
“Dalung must have stepped on toes in the party and the state chapter of the party with his arrogance and over confidence. Don’t forget that Paulien Tallen is a strong woman leader in Plateau State and many are pointing fingers at Mrs. Aisha Buhari as the one who put in her name. Tallen was smart enough to reject the Ambassadorial appointment in 2016 because she was gunning for a bigger package from this government,” a source close to the astute politician revealed to Kemi Ashefon.
A former Minister of State for Science and Technology, Pauline Tallen, was among chieftains of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] who crossed over to the All Progressives Congress. An astute politician, she was elected a Deputy Governor to former Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State.
Tallen, who started her political journey as a Local government councilor in 1986 was the first woman to contest for chairmanship in the 17 Local Government Areas. She was the first elected deputy governor in the whole of northern Nigeria.
Recall Tallen’s name was among the 46 non-career ambassadorial nominees President Buhari sent to the Senate for confirmation in October 2016.
She rejected the nomination.
Her reasons? She said she needed time to take care of her ailing husband.
Her statement in part reads:
“I appreciate President Muhammadu Buhari for counting me worthy to serve Nigeria in the capacity of an ambassador. However, I have to let it go to attend to my ailing husband. It is a hard decision to take, but I have to, because my husband is my primary responsibility as a woman.”
