November 26, (THEWILL) – Save for ambassadorial postings left to be filled, appointment season is almost winding down. Unfortunately, a handful of President Bola Tinubu’s supporters who have been hoping to get at least one political appointment are yet to bag any. Among these handfuls include people like Femi Fani Kayode and Tein Teinbo Seliyefubara Jack-Rich. However, this piece will only focus on Jack-Rich.
A wealthy businessman and politician, Tein Jack-Rich as he is fondly called, was a presidential aspirant in the All-Progressives Congress, APC, primary that produced President Bola Tinubu as the party’s frontliner then. The singular gesture of stepping down for Tinubu during the primary endeared him to the president. This in turn earned him the position of being named the highest-ranking member of the APC Presidential Campaign Council from Rivers state during the campaigns alongside his wife, Elizabeth.
Shortly before the elections, Tinubu and his team had found it pertinent to pay Jack-Rich a visit and not long after that, he was appointed the Deputy Director of the PCC Fundraising Committee. Throughout the campaign period, he held very crucial meetings with both Seyi, the son of the president and his father – all to ensure that Tinubu emerged victorious in the general election. So naturally, many assumed he would end up being one of the biggest beneficiaries of Tinubu’s administration. Unfortunately, this has been far from the case. Sources claim that the 48-year-old was positioning himself for a ministerial position or at least to head a government parastatal, but this did not happen.
It is also unlikely that he may bag an ambassadorial posting as the nature of his multi-billion-naira business is such that won’t allow for his absence at a long stretch. However, other sources close to him are of the opinion that whether or not he got a ministerial appointment is irrelevant as the crude oil licence he got for his Belema Oil Producing Limited, his oil Exploration Company about a month after the inauguration of Tinubu’s government was more than enough to make up for the lack of appointment.
Jack-Rich’s Belema Sweet Export Terminal has been designed in such a way to have the capacity to add over $11 billion to the national revenue. It produces over 400,000 barrels of crude daily with a storage point that could store eight million barrels of crude and is guaranteed to provide 100,000 jobs to employment seekers. A philanthropist of note, Jack-Rich is a graduate of Petroleum Production from Panola College, Cartage USA. He also has degrees from the University of Wales & USAM Porto-Novo, Benin Republic, in Business Administration.
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