Will Billionaire Businessman, Jack-Rich, Get Reward from Tinubu?  

The drama of ministerial appointments in the era of President Bola Tinubu is almost finished. Apart from a few of the scenes that are reported to have been doctored to scare future ministers to be obedient to the Senate, nothing out of the ordinary happened. Unless one is counting the exclusion of the Tein Jack-Rich from the list of nominated ministers.

Jack-Rich is one of the political figures that many Nigerians expected to make Tinubu’s list of ministerial nominees. Due to their history and the clear endearment of the former presidential aspirant to Tinubu, Jack-Rich was believed to be Mr. President’s number one assignee for the Niger Delta region. Alas, nothing of the sort came about.

Folks will remember that Jack-Rich contributed a significant bit to the emergence of Tinubu as the Rivers State presidential candidate. Granted, he does not come up as the most prominent contributor—that honour is widely believed to go to the former governor of the state, Nyesom Wike. Nevertheless, Jack-Rich helped out a lot.

For one, Jack-Rich donated his campaign office as a gathering and planning point for Tinubu’s campaign groups in Rivers. This place served as a launch pad for many of the strategies that the groups employed and eventually won the hearts of the Rivers people. Thus, one cannot say that Jack-Rich’s contribution to Tinubu’s presidency is small.

However, assuming Jack-Rich wanted a ministerial slot for his contributions, things might have happened behind the curtains to derail this aspiration. A good example is the scandal of a rumoured relationship between Jack-Rich’s wife, Dr. Elizabeth Jack-Rich, and Tinubu’s son, Seyi. Both families have, however, done a good job squashing these rumours.

So, at the end of the day, nobody knows why Tinubu did not nominate Jack-Rich for a ministerial position. Also, it does not help that Jack-Rich tends to be low-key with respect to his political life. A reaction on social media or a well-timed tantrum from a well-paid personal assistant of his would let us know.

But, so far, there’s nothing. Thus, only speculations abound with questions. Will Tinubu reward Jack-Rich or not?