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Tag: appointments

  • Jos North protests appointments

    The Anaguta ethnic group in Jos North Local Government Areas of Plateau State has warned the Plateau State government against taking actions that will sabotage the prevailing peaceful co-existence in the volatile city of Jos.

    The ethnic group alleged that  Governor Simon Lalong is using political appointment to set residents of the city against one another by suppressing the minority tribe.

    The issue of political appointment has always led to violent conflict in Jos North local government Area as exemplified in the 1994 and 2001 Jos crisis. The conflict of Jos that lasted over a decade was caused by the lopsided distribution of appointments.

    According Mr. Jonathan Nyam who read the text at the press conference, “Governor Lalong has refused to recognise the Anaguta ethnic group as a stakeholder in Jos North local government as the governor refused to give us any political appointment to serve in his government”

    He added: “All past administrations in the state both military and civilian government have always given appointment to Anaguta people in recognition that we are one of the three native tribes of Jos North.

    “But to our greatest surprise, Governor Lalong gave the slot of Commissioner to settlers who have been working hard to take over our land from us.

    The group alleged that the only appointment given to Anaguta people by Governor Lalong is a “paltry” supervisory councilor in Jos North, adding that he gave the slot of commissioner to settlers, who have been competing with them to take over their ancestral land.

    Nyam said: “No doubt that this administration of Governor Lalong did not follow the principle of democracy and social justice as provided in section 14(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (As Amended) as well as section 14(4) of the said constitution.”

  • Ortom solicits more appointments for Benue indigenes

    Ortom solicits more appointments for Benue indigenes

    Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has appealed to the Federal Government to give more opportunities to indigenes of the state to make contributions to the development of the country at the federal level.

    He spoke when he visited the Secretary of the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal,  in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, recently.

    Ortom said Benue has qualified, competent and patriotic sons and and daughters who are ready to offer quality service to the nation, if given the opportunity.

    He said the people expected more appointments at the federal level by virtue of their contributions to the unity and progress of the country and the emergence of the All Progressives Congress (APC) government at the centre.

    Lawal acknowledged the submissions of Governor Ortom and pledged to take up his request at the appropriate quarters.

    Also in Abuja, the governor urged the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development,  Chief Audu Ogbeh, to justify the confidence reposed in him, by deploying his vast experience to the service of the nation.

    Ortom appealed to the minister to assist the state to utilise its potentials in the agriculture sector, where it has comparative advantage over other states, pointing out his appointment was made with the recognition that he is a Benue indigene.

    The governor announced that his administration had concluded plans to host the minister soon.

    Ogbeh said the nation had no alternative, but to return to agriculture, since the oil it had relied upon as its major revenue earner could not longer sustain the delivery of its financial responsibilities.

    With this development, he said Benue State will play a significant role in the scheme of things to the mutual benefit of both the state and the Federal Government.

    Ortom also visited the Permanent Secretary in the Ecological Funds Office where he sought assistance to tackle ecological challenges in the state, particularly Makurdi, Gboko and Otukpo. In his response, the Permanent Secretary, Alhaji Mohammed Abbas, assured that the request will be considered.

  • Buhari approves 30 new Federal High Court judges’ appointments

    Buhari approves 30 new Federal High Court judges’ appointments

    • Appointees to be sworn-in Wednesday

    President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of the Chief Registrar of the Federal High Court, Mrs. Rosemary O. Dugbo Oghoghorie and 29 others as judges of the Federal High Court.

    Their appointment by the President was on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council (NJC).

    NJC’s Acting Director of Information, Soji Oye, said in a statement that the new judges will be sworn-in by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, in Abuja on Wednesday next week.

    Mrs. Dugbo Oghoghorie is taking the slot of Delta State; Yellin S. Bogoro (Bauchi State), Taiwo Obayomi Taiwo (Ogun State), Ibrahim Watila (Borno State), Mallong Peter Hoommuk (Plateau State), Isa Hamma Adama Dashen (Adamawa State), Hassan Dikko (Kebbi State), Jude Kanyioh Dagat (Kaduna State), Olayinka Olusegun Tokode (Osun State) and Simon Akpah Amobeda (Kogi State).

    Others are Jane Egienanwan Inyang (Cross River State), Daniel Emeka Osiagor (Rivers State), Prof. Chuka Austine Obiozor (Anambra State), Iniekenimi Nicholas Oweib (Bayelsa State), Hassan Muslim Sule (Zamfara State), Hadiza Rabiu Shagari (Sokoto State), Saleh Kogo Idrissa (Yobe State), Joyce Obehi Abdulmalik (Edo State) and Hillary Ide Osho Oshomah (Edo State).

    Also included are Fadima Murtala Aminu (Adamawa State), Toyin Bolaji Adegoke (Kwara State), James Kolawole Omotosho (Ogun State), Nehizena Idemudia Ekunwe (Edo State), Stephen Daylop Pam (Plateau State), Akintayo Aluko ( Ekiti State), Dr. Nnamdi O. Dimgba (Abia State), Emeka Nwite (Ebonyi State), Abdulazeez M.Z. Anka (Zamfara State), Abdu Dogo (FCT) and Adamu Turaki Muhammed (Jigawa State).

  • Buhari: selfish elite behind criticism of my appointments

    Buhari: selfish elite behind criticism of my appointments

    President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday fired back at critics of the appointments he has made so far. He blamed the elite for orchestrating criticisms of his appointments into government positions.

    The President spoke through his deputy, Prof Yemi Osinbajo at the opening of the 21st Nigerian Economic Summit (NES) in Abuja Buhari.

    He described as unfortunate that Nigerians pay more attention to sectional and religious interests, rather than the competence of the appointees, claiming that misgivings on the elite.

    The President noted that those seeking the promotion of selfish interests were fuelling complaints on where government appointees come from, adding that the fact that a northerner is in government does not necessarily mean good fortune for his people.

    He, however, said the fact that Nigerians unite in their conviction that the majority of the people are extremely poor remained incontrovertible.

    His words: “You find out that the elite, whether from the Southwest, Northwest or wherever, are willing to collaborate in stealing the resources of the state. It is important to point out that the idea of where a person appointed into government comes from is meant to divert attention.”

    The present administration, he said, remained genuinely committed to ensure that every Nigerian of good and proven integrity has access to serve in the Buhari-led government.

    According to him, the ongoing war against corruption would be waged by by example, pointing out that the President has insisted that all officials of government must demonstrate this leadership virtue.

    He said the government was already demonstrating this by not interfering in the operations of anti-graft agencies. “What is required now is the national orientation and the will to curtail corruption both in the public and private sectors”, he said.

    The President said that only merit will be recognised and rewarded in what he called the ‘New Nigeria”, urging the citizens to realise that there must be discipline in all spheres of life.

    He disclosed that from government’s calculations, it will spend approximately N51 to N60 to feed every school pupil in keeping faith with the administration’s campaign promises.

    With the projection, the President noted that it would not cost the government as much as being speculated to implement the school feeding programme.

    In his introductory remarks, Chairman of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) faculty of economics, Dr. Temitope Oshikoya, stated that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was at the cross-road because of slowing Gross Domestic Product and rising unemployment, noting that the all require “lowering of the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), Liquidity Ratio (LR) and the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR)” .

    These decisions, he said, could however “stoke inflation and banking liquidity with inflation at 9.3 per cent – a 10 per cent foreign exchange gap of  $30.4 billion in the external reserves – and as a result, monetary policy is complicated with rising inflation and unemployment.

    He urged the Federal Government to enhance tax administration reform by increasing Value Added Tax (VAT) rate to 10 per cent, diversify its base and close loopholes.

    With these measures, Oshikoya noted that “VAT revenue could increase from $5.1 billion to $18 billion or one per cent of GDP to 3.5 per cent.

    He also called on the government to initiate a $40 oil price benchmark and zero-based budgeting for next year.

    Dr. Oshikoya noted that it will cost the country over $300 billion or N60 trillion to execute equity and efficiency programmes and warned that “there is no free lunch.”

    Oshikoya gave a breakdown of what it will cost to implement these two programmes to include: equity programme, social inclusion programmes of social welfare (N1,250 trillion), unemployment allowance (N65 billion), one meal per day (N435 billion), National Identity Card Scheme (N100 billion) and Regional Growth Fund (N300 billion) – all totalling N2.150 trillion

    He listed other programmes as education and health for six universities (N120 billion); new vocational schools (N36 billion); special education (N6 billion); world-class hospital (N500 billion) and for national health expenses per year (N8. 800) –all totalling N9.462 trillion.

    To execute a nationwide efficiency Programme Oshikoya stated that infrastructure projects like will cost N18.000 trillion, electricity (N5.400 trillion); petroleum refinery (N100 billion) and the environment (N20 billion)- all totaling N23.520 trillion, aside from the national mortgage scheme, expected to cost N16.000 trillion; Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Loan Guarantee (N10.000 trillion) and Agric Commodity Trade Board (N250 billion)

    He put the yearly projection at N61.3 trillion.

     

  • Niger East Senatorial Zone seeks balanced appointments

    The public service reform in Niger State which pruned the number of permanent secretaries from 54 to 25, has caused a lot of agitation, especially in Niger East Senatorial Zone where the people feel they were, unfairly, the hardest hit.

    The people of the zone have now demanded a more inclusive reform to address what they called the lopsided rationalisation in the recent public service reform. They said the redeployment of Permanent Secretaries in the state did not favour the zone, a remarkable departure from the fate of the zone in previous purges.

    Despite the protests, the state government has insisted that only technocrats will be appointed into the State Executive Council.

    The Chairman of Niger East Peoples’ Forum, Mr. George Koce, a lawyer who represents the elders, said the redistribution of Permanent Secretaries favoured Niger North and Niger South, while neglecting Niger East. Giving the statistics, Koce said before the reform, Niger South Senatorial District had 26 Permanent Secretaries, Niger East 17, Niger North 11 but after the reform, Niger South Senatorial District had 14 Permanent Secretaries, Niger East 4, Niger North 7.

    “It is clear that the redistribution of Permanent Secretaries favored Niger North and South against Niger East Senatorial Districts. Evidently, of the 25 Permanent Secretaries retained, only 4 come from Niger East Senatorial District, with one local government area in Niger South Senatorial District having 6.mRecent development in the redeployment of the Permanent Secretaries is unfair, unjust and smacks of brazen impunity. This is totally unacceptable. This smacks a delibrate agenda for the isolation of Niger East Senatorial District from the Niger state APC administration. The goodwill of the people of Niger East Senatorial District should not be taken for granted”, Koce emphasized.

    Calling on the state government to use the previous zonal political template used by previous administration to achieve a balanced representation, the spokesman for the Elders appealed that subsequent appointments and deployments should be much more rationally considered.

    He said the APC administration in Niger state must be seen to make, effect and sustain positive change based on fair play, justice and equity.

    The Chairman who lamented that all steps taken by the zone to make the state government address the issue at stake have yielded no positive response called on the state House of Assembly to address the imbalance in the recent appointment of Permanent Secretaries to safeguard future imbalance. Youths under the aegis of Gbegnu Boknu Yakwo Youth Associationý took their grievances to the Niger state government House in Minna carrying placards with inscriptions like ‘Enough is Enough’, ‘Give us the real change’, ‘We want good change’ and others. The youths who expressed dissatisfaction with the appointments said it was not in line with the principles of equity and fairness among the people of the State calling on  Governor Bello to correct the irregularities in the appointment of officers into various positions.

    The Chairman of the group, Comrade Danjuma Paiko said, “We, the people of Niger East Senatorial District (Zone B) have not been treated well despite the large number of votes gotten from the zone during the 2015 general elections. We call on the State government to as a matter of urgency consider the plight of Zone B to re-address all these anomalies before the local government elections.”

    Paiko called on the governor to reverse the apparent lopsided rationalisation.

    The government has maintained its stand that only technocrats would be appointed as the government was looking for people who will deliver quality service to the people.

    The Chief Press Secretary to the state governor, Dr. Ibraheem Dooba said, “In terms of representation, everybody will be well represented but some appointments are done to de-emphasise politics, especially that of the SSG. Only technocrats will be appointed,” he added.

     

  • Understanding Buhari’s appointments

    Gradually, slowly and steadily, President Muhammadu Buhari is putting the building blocks of his change administration together and the final shape and character is expected to emerge by the end of this month. And typical of Nigerians, a lot of people have been having their say on how the president has been going about this assignment since he assumed office on May 29.

    To some, the speed at which the administration has been moving is too slow, annoyingly slow, while some others have issues with what they see as lopsidedness in the number of appointments he has so far made into key positions in his emerging administration.

    Not a few also, have hailed the quality of the persons so appointed by him to man these strategic positions notwithstanding the part of the country where they come from. And no other appointments have been more warmly received by majority of Nigerians than the ones he made at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), that brought on board Ibe Kachukwu as Group Managing Director, Dr Maikanti Baru, Group Executive Director, Exploration and Production; Isiaka Abdulrazaq, Group Executive Director, Finance and Services; Engineer Dennis Nnamdi Ajulu,  Group Executive Director, Refining and Technology; and Babatunde Victor Adeniran, Group Executive Director, Commercial and Investment.

    Of particular note is the fact that some of these directors were drawn from the private sector with excellent pedigrees and work experiences that span decades and have earned them distinction and respect from their previous employers.

    And since their appointments, Kachukwu and his team have hit the ground running and the NNPC, arguably Nigeria’s most important business venture is on the path to being run truly like a business in line with the Buhari administration new thinking for a better and prosperous Oil and Gas sector.

    While some minor adjustments have been made here and there by the management to correct some anomalies in the system, some major decisions have equally been taken to cut waste, block financial leakages and set the corporation on the path to greatness. But like every good thing in Nigeria, some people are not always happy for reasons they alone can explain.

    In the past few weeks an organisation that goes by the name Civil Society Network Against Corruption ( CSNAC) has picked issues with the appointment of Dr Adeniran, the Group Executive Director, Commercial and Investment on the ground of what it called conflict of interest.

    CSNAC’s argument which was trending for a while on some online publications was that his former employer, Total E &P Nigeria Ltd had been in dispute with NNPC over a business agreement (currently at arbitration) which he (Adeniran) was privy to.  The new GED, until his appointment at NNPC was the Senior Technical Adviser on Oil and Gas Commercial of Total E & P where he had been for over 22 years.

    While at Total, Adeniran must have put in his best to have risen to that top position in a multinational company, and must have also impressed the scouts working for the Presidency who head-hunted him and others from their comfortable positions in the private sector to come and work for their fatherland at NNPC.

    President Muhammadu Buhari being a thorough person must have done his due diligence on each and everyone of the appointees he has called upon to help him deliver the change that he promised Nigerians and for which we voted for him.  So, for anybody or group purported to be fighting corruption or under whatever guise, to now want to rake up dirt where there is none in order to tarnish the reputation of a man of impeccable character and integrity is to say the least condemnable and tantamount to cheap blackmail. The era of pull-him-down syndrome in our country should be allowed to end with the previous administrations in this country. This is the change era.

    This same pull-him-down syndrome is also rearing its head in other appointments, even those yet to be made by President Buhari. In the last one month or so, sponsored newspaper advertorials and television documentaries on some individuals believed to likely make Buhari’s ministers’ list have suddenly appeared in the media containing one form of allegation or another, trying to convince the president why such persons should not be appointed into his cabinet. The impact this could have on the President’s choice would only be known when he eventually sends the list to the Senate for confirmation this week or next, but being the person that he is, he is not likely to be swayed by the antics of those whose stock-in-trade is to destroy others so that they can grow. Buhari is not deceived or given to blackmail.

    Coming back to the NNPC appointments; is it not better for CSNAC and its like to keep an eye on the new management and ensure that it does not derail or depart from  its assignment? This it can do effectively by monitoring what it does henceforth and ensure that it does it very well.

    And talking of ensuring the NNPC management sticks to its assignment, Kachikwu and his team has no choice but to do this if President Buhari is the one to be in charge of the Petroleum Ministry as feelers out there would want Nigerians to believe. If this eventually came to pass, the president will be on a familiar terrain having served in that capacity during the Murtala/Obasanjo military government in the 1970s. And the president taking charge of the all-important ministry might not be a bad idea after all for obvious reasons.

    But if he decides to appoint a separate oil minister, the President will do well to look for another Nigerian of proven integrity to superintend over this national asset to work with the excellent team he already has in place at the NNNPC. There is a need for a round peg in a round hole in all appointments into public offices in this country. The era of mediocrity is over; we should stop giving in to sentiments, he that the cap fits should be given to wear it.

    Like the NNPC, the Nigeria Customs Service is another critical revenue generating agency of government crucial and critical to the health of our economy and President Muhammadu Buhari has rightly noted that with his decision to appoint another Nigerian of impeccable character to take charge and cleanse the rot in the system. Though he had to look outside the service to appoint the new Comptroller-General for the Customs, the choice of Colonel Alli (retd) a one time Military Administrator of Kaduna State is seen as a bold step by the President to restore sanity and efficiency to the service. Again, this has not gone without criticism from some people who would rather have the new CG-Customs come from within the service and from another part of the country.

    The argument has been going back and forth, but what should be paramount here to all Nigerians as in every other appointments made by the government is whether the appointees are capable of carrying out their assignments in the best interest of Nigeria. This is what the president has told us and we should understand his appointments as such.

    • Nwachukwu, a Public Affairs Analyst, writes from Enugu.

  • Buhari’ll be fair to zones on appointments, says Emerhor

    Delta State All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the April 11 election, Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, has urged the party’s members to remain calm for President Muhammadu Buhari to select those to serve in his cabinet.

    The APC chieftain was reacting to reports that the Department of State Security (DSS) had screened some ministerial nominees, including renowned economist, Prof Pat Utomi.

    Emerhor noted that the development had caused disenchantment among some people across the state, especially those in the Central and South senatorial district.

    This followed the view that federal appointments had always been to the advantage of the Igbo-speaking Delta North, where Governor Ifeanyi Okowa hails from.

    Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele is also from the Delta North Senatorial District, like the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr Ibe Kachikwu.

    Reacting to the outcry against what many residents called lopsided federal appointments, Emerhor assured that President Buhari was aware of the sensitivity of ethnic concerns in the state. The APC chieftain said the President would ensure balance in his appointments.

    According to him, the seeming delay in the appointment of the President’s aides and ministers was the result of his interest to consult and reach out to stakeholders to manage the peculiarities and sensitivities in various states.

  • Reject Buhari’s appointments, MASSOB tells Ndigbo

    Reject Buhari’s appointments, MASSOB tells Ndigbo

    The Ralph Uwazurike-led faction of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has called on Igbo politicians to reject any appointment that might be offered them under the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.

    Rivers South zonal leader Sunday Kalu-Amuzie spoke after a thanksgiving service to mark the movement’s 16th year anniversary.

    Amuzie said opportunities abound in the Biafran nation for any position or portfolios they might want, urging them to come back home and occupy them with ease.

    “We are confident that our desire on Biafra has been realised and this informed today’s celebration.

    “We are convinced that God supports our agitation and is guiding our step towards its realisation soon. This is why we call on our people to come home, because what they seek in Abuja is at home.”

    [ad id=”403656″]“The Ndigbos who are lobbying for appointments into Buhari’s cabinet should stop forthwith, as there is no need for that. The Biafran nation is already in our hands; they should reject any appointment that might be given to them and come home to help build Biafra,” he said.

    Amuzie noted that God had perfected the birth of the new nation, which comprised the 11 states of the former eastern region.

    Officiating minister Pastor David Achi said God told him Biafra was in his programme and that conviction informed his interactions with the group.

    “The crowd that defiled the rains for this programme today is evidence that God supports MASSOB. The people are convinced of this; if I am not convinced of what I heard from God, I would not have identified with them.

    “It took me several years, even after God spoke, to make up my mind to join because I didn’t want to make mistakes,” Achi said.

     

  • Nwabueze counsels Buhari on appointments

    •Appointments should reflect equity and social justice

    Foremost legal scholar Prof. Ben Nwabueze has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to respect the principles of justice and equity, warning that any deviation from them ould constitute a violation of the constitution.

    He also advised the President to administer the country in a way that will create doubts about his commitment to one Nigeria, true federalism and national unity.

    The former university don criticised what he described as President  Buhari’s “dictatorial disregard of the commands of the constitution,” adding that the neglect of the Southeast in his recent appointments was worrisome.

    He said the appointments clearly revealed that the President has discriminated against the Ndigbo, thereby subjecting the race to a feeling of alienation.

    Nwabueze stressed: “By concentrating in the North nearly 80 per cent of his 31 strategic appointments and by excluding the Northeast completely, a feeling of alienation, of not being wanted, may have been created on the part of those so disadvantage or excluded. A feeling of alienation may grow into that of disaffection and disloyalty.”

    He added: “If the state is he product of a social contract, then, all citizens should count equally in relation to it.”

    Nwabueze said, for Nigeria to justify its status as a democratic state, it should treat its stakeholders with fairness and promote equity and social justice.

    The legal scholar lamented that President Buhari has not accorded priority to equality, advising him to make amends.

    He said: “The actions of President Buhari since his assumption of office seem to fly in the face of the necessity for equal treatment of citizens, regardless of differences in ethnicity and in their religious and political affiliations, and of the compelling rationale for the principle of equal treatment as articulated above.”

  • The matter of Buhari’s appointments

    It would amount to an abdication of responsibility on a serious matter of public interest to allow obviously sectional distribution of appointments to stand unchallenged for fear of being called names or some other mundane promptings. The feeling is not new since President Buhari began his appointments that he accords scant regard to national spread and most of his appointments are skewed disproportionately in favour of the north. The response of some of his aides at those initial stages was to call for patience as the needed balance will come subsequently even as they also canvassed the issue of merit. But more of such appointments have since come with the naming of the Secretary to the Federal Government (SGF) and Chief of Staff to the president among others only to widen the gulf in earlier observations.

    Not unexpectedly, some prominent Nigerians and groups have deprecated what has been seen as the sectional tinge in those appointments. Apparently sensing danger in the growing trend, no less a person than the National Chairman of the ruling party, Chief John Oyegun, rose in defense. He told a delegation that visited him to be patient as the president will balance federal appointments across geo-political zones. For him, “we have two sets of appointments that have been taking place. One set is the personal privilege of Mr. President as far as his personal staff is concerned. The other set has to do with a few and strategic persons that are going to help him either in the fight against corruption or against insurgency in the north-east, but this is not where to play the political balancing game” He said the president has the right to appoint those he has confidence in because these are the areas he has made promises to Nigerians. Oyegun was also quick to add that there are thousands of other political appointments that are going to be made. And the balancing will come with them.

    Oyegun is entitled to his opinion. But it is doubtful whether many will reason along with him on what he purports as justification for the way those appointments have come. It is correct that much of these appointments are the personal privilege of the president. It is also no less a truism that the choice of those to appoint are essentially his.

    But that is the extent to which his arguments can be pursued. Beyond these and by way of further extrapolation, those arguments are contradicted by the same reasons for which they are intended to persuade the public. There is a contradiction in the assumption that in the making of even personal appointments, only a preponderance of people from particular areas can be found qualified and well-trusted for those positions. It is difficult to sustain such a latent impression especially when we are talking of national assignments. There is nothing personal about those national appointments as we are erroneously being made to believe except they will not be subjected to any other body for approval. That is the more reason the president should have been guided by the overall national interest in arriving at them. Well-qualified and trusted people abound all over the country and the formidable coalition that saw Buhari to power was all that should have been called into action when sourcing for such people.

    If this logical flaw is not sufficient to draw the point nearer, the picture painted by Oyegun of a few strategic persons that will help the president in the fight against corruption and insurgency in the north-east as further justification, further mocks the entire issue. It not only reduces such national engagements to personal but sectional issues. Neither the fight against corruption nor that against insurgency should lend themselves to such trivialization and reductionism. And those who will aid the president in their prosecution are not and should not be limited to any particular section of the country. That is the problem we run into in an attempt to enter defence for actions that have obviously not gone done well with the people.

    Even then, this is not the first time we are passing through such situations. Obasanjo was there for eight years. We did not have cause to raise similar infractions. Neither was such personal and strategic appointments dominated by particular sections of the country as we are now being made to believe. Obasanjo had his problems but he had very trusted and dependable personal aides from other geo-political zones and they served him very dutifully. Though short-lived, the Yar’ Adua regime did not have such a baggage. And the immediate past regime of Jonathan just like Obasanjo appointed people outside his ethnic group as SGF and Chief of Staff.

    So there are good grounds to take Buhari to task as his appointments are not borne out of precedent. Those who seek to defend him on such grounds as we have seen are making no point.  So it was also when governors Rochas Okorocha and Adams Oshiomhole of Imo and Edo states respectively sought to justify the appointments. For Okorocha, the president’s appointments are in the nation’s best interest as he can appoint anyone from any part of the country. He said he is more interested in projects coming down the south-east than the appointments.

    It is hoped he has the minds of his constituents in this. But even as we wait for such projects including the Second Niger Bridge, those on whose behalf he has spoken equally need the appointments. And it cannot be claimed that sections which benefitted disproportionately from these appointments will be left out when the touted projects are being shared. So on what basis would he want his people to be left out of the sharing process even when it is generally known that he had sought for the position of the SGF for the zone without success?

    Oshiomhole trivialized the matter when he urged Nigerians to “praise Buhari for having the uncommon courage to take plausible decisions in the appointments”, whatever that means. For him, the appointments were based on merit and not political sentiments or ethnic considerations. Again, he is entitled to his opinion even when such may run at cross purposes with those of his immediate constituency. It is also instructive that the two governors that found it expedient to speak come from the south-east and south-south zones that were reputed not to have voted for Buhari during the last elections.

    It is possible they were motivated by the groundswell of public discontent against those appointments in the two zones. The extent to which their interventions can reverse these perceptions will be borne out with time.

    But more seriously, infractions as this are the greatest obstacles to the peace and unity of this country. The bitter competition for the control of the centre as witnessed in the last elections is propelled and reinforced by lack of confidence by sections about  adequate protection by leaders other than those from their ethnic stock. That is the malady that is being reinforced when we give the impression that the president’s personal appointments should have nothing to do with balance.

    So why should the struggle for power in this clime not continue to be rancorous if a president cannot take into confidence people of other zones or if he cannot find people from other zones on a high scale of merit for such appointments. At any rate, since when has merit fled the shores of more enterprising sections of this country that it has now become an issue? We need to watch the monsters we create today.