Mr Adebayo Shittu, the immediate-past Minister of Communication, said that he was shocked when his name was not included on President Muhammadu Buhari’s ministerial list.
Shittu said although he did not expect that he would not be reappointed, as a Muslim, he took it as his fate.
The ex-minister said: “I took it the way it came.”
Senate President, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, had, on July 23, read out the names of 43 ministerial nominees sent by President Buhari to the lawmakers for confirmation at the upper house.
While the list contained 14 former ministers, 29 new names and seven females, 18 ex-ministers did not make the list, including Mr Shittu.
“Of course, I expected that I will be reappointed (as minister) but when it didn’t happen, as a Muslim, it didn’t take me five minutes before I accepted that what has come, it’s the will of God.
“And I have also found comfort in a Quranic verse when God promised that what is to come later is better than what is with you now.
“So for me, it says we must accept that there is always something better with God which he gives to his beloved.
“I see myself as a beloved of God.
“I have come a long way and I have served at the state and national levels and the experience that I have garnered over the last three and half years cannot be purchased from the stores or from the market,” he said.
He said as public officer, one must always have it in one’s mind that “whatever has a beginning will necessarily have an end.”
“And it is not how long one stays in public office but how well you are able to distinguish yourself,” he said.
