Okonjo-Iweala set to be named as economic czar.

Managing Director of the World Bank, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala speaks during a news conference in Tirana January 10, 2011. PHOTO/REUTERS 

By Terfa Tilley-Gyado

As the president puts finishing touches to his list of cabinet nominees Thursday evening, close aides say the president has decided to name Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as finance minister and economic czar.

In the position, not unlike the role she played as finance minister and chairman of the presidential economic team under Olusegun 0basanjo, Mrs Okonjo-Iweala is expected to be a kind of super-minister with wide swathes over the economy.

Talks had recently stalled after Mrs Okonjo-Iweala, currently a managing director at World Bank, demanded greater executive powers and responsibility in the new administration. In an effort to secure her services, President Jonathan has designed a new State House organogram which fulfils her requirements. Her proposed designation satisfies one of the key conditions for the World Bank managing director, who is now poised to return to her old stomping grounds in Abuja.

Mrs Okonjo-Iweala brings star power to President Jonathan’s cabinet, about the only real dramatic senior appointment he has so far proposed.

But her anticipated role is believed to be causing anxiety in circles around Mr Jonathan, a larger than life outsider who is almost certain to overwhelm many of the lesser known aides around the president.

“Many of the president’s close aides and some politicians are certainly quite worried about her,” said one source close to the president.

However, President Jonathan has ignored the last minute opposition and, barring any last minute wrangles, he is expected to submit his list of cabinet nominees to the senate this afternoon, almost four weeks after his inauguration. Although the official list has not yet been released, several individuals, including a substantial chunk of former ministers, have undergone security screening in the past few weeks ahead of potential nomination.

Old faces

Mrs Okonjo-Iweala is one of many old faces returning to the new executive lineup. Bello Haliru Mohammed, the acting chairman of the PDP, is also in line for a role in Mr Jonathan’s cabinet. Mr Mohammed was so assured of his nomination that he prepared his exit notes yesterday for handover. His replacement as PDP chair is expected to be Bamanga Tukur and an announcement could be made as early as next week.

Mr Mohammed, a former communications minister under Mr Obasanjo, was one of several high profile Nigerians that were implicated by a German court in the Siemens scandal in 2007. The court accused Mr Mohammed of accepting two instalments of €70,000 in bribes, a charge that he later denied.

Mrs Okonjo-Iweala is set to be joined by other returning ministers like: Diezani Alison-Madueke, Godsday Orubebe, Odein Ajumogobia, Bala Mohammed, Chukwemeka Wogu, Labaran Maku, Ruqqayatu Rufai and Caleb Olubolade. Yusuf Suleiman, former transport minister, is also in contention for a ministerial return.

After the president writes the Senate, it is expected that ministerial screening will move to the top of the agenda when the upper chamber resumes next week Tuesday.