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Tag: appointments

  • Jonathan congratulates Adesina, Oteh on appointments

    Jonathan congratulates Adesina, Oteh on appointments

    Former President Goodluck Jonathan has congratulated Dr Akinwumi Adesina and Ms Arunma Oteh on their appointments at the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the World Bank.

    These appointments, Jonathan said, serve as a testimony to the fact that his administration had a good economic team.

    Akinwunmi, who was Jonathan’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, has just assumed duty as the president of the AfDB while Oteh, who was the director-general of the Securities and Exchange Commission, was appointed as the treasurer and vice president of the World Bank.

    In separate letters of congratulations to Adesina and Oteh, which Jonathan personally signed, the former President described them as high achievers and Nigeria’s worthy ambassadors.

    On Adesina’s choice as AfDB chief, Jonathan said: “Given your exemplary record of performance, while serving as the minister of Agriculture and Rural Development in my cabinet, I have no doubt that you will deploy your energy and the bank’s resources to ensure that Africa experiences a new era of accelerated development.

    The former President, in a letter to Oteh, praised the former SEC chief’s profound knowledge of capital markets, describing her as conversant with the challenges of the economies of emerging markets.

  • Presidential appointments: Matters arising

    Presidential appointments: Matters arising

    President Buhari must be guided by the criticisms when making subsequent appointments

    President Muhammadu Buhari’s latest round of appointments to federal office has drawn a great deal of criticism, especially across the southern half of Nigeria.  The immediate cause of the disenchantment is the ethnic origins of the officials he named to the positions at issue.

    Of the six, only Ita Solomon Enang, Senior Special Assistant on National Assembly Matters (Senate) comes from the South. The other five, Babachir David Lawal (Secretary to the Government of the Federation), Abba Kyari, (Chief of Staff to the President), Colonel Hammed Ibrahim Ali (Comptroller-General, the Nigerian Customs Service), Kure Martin Abeshi (Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Immigration Service), and Suleiman A. Kawu, Senior Special Assistant on National Assembly Matters (House of Representatives), come from the North.

    Their qualifications are not in dispute.

    But in the news media and public discourse, the appointments have been described as “lopsided”, as reflecting insensitivity to the plurality of the Nigerian state, and as having stirred up “outrage across Nigeria.” Some have even gone to the incendiary length to characterising Buhari as “President of Northern Nigeria.”

    The Chief of Staff reports directly to the President. His appointment belongs entirely in the President’s discretion. That is how it should be. The Presidency will function much better when President and the Chief of Staff share outlook and vision and have matching chemistry.

    The office of Secretary to the Federal Government has a larger purview and answers to a much larger audience. But here also, Nigerian presidents, going back to the Second Republic, have traditionally exercised discretionary power in selecting those whose devotion and loyalty they can more or less take for granted. The same goes for the President’s liaison officers with the Senate and the House of Representatives.

    Of the six posts at issue, then, only two – the comptrollers-general for the Customs and Immigration services– fall outside the realm of presidential discretion. Appointment to these posts is subject to confirmation by the Senate.

    It is here that the case can perhaps be made that the President should have cast his net much wider in search of suitable appointees, of whom there is no shortage. Surely, it has been asked, if a worthy appointee could not have been found within its own ranks to lead the Customs, instead of recalling a military officer from retirement to lead the agency?

    Over the decades, the Customs service has been notorious for setting ridiculously low revenue targets, and then congratulating itself on meeting and exceeding them. Desperate for enhanced revenues to cushion shrinking receipts from oil exports, the government seems to have decided, according to informed sources, that an outsider is better placed to lead the agency to answer to the new challenge.

    But it does not follow that the person should come from the North.

    Even so, and taking into account the President’s previous appointments, it is too early to write Buhari off as President of only one section of Nigeria. Cumulatively, the appointments constitute only a tiny fraction of those he will be making in due course.

    Besides, those judging the appointments in terms of ethnic arithmetic will stand on firmer ground if they weighed them in the overall context of senior public service positions, not piecemeal. The piecemeal approach rests on an unrepresentative sample, and is to that extent flawed. Also, how much power and influence derive from it should be the measure of the office, not crude numbers.

    Still, the concerns that have been expressed cannot be ignored. The President has been put on notice that his appointees will be closely scrutinised, and that he will be pressed to ensure that they fully and faithfully reflect the pluralistic makeup of the Nigerian State, especially in terms of ethnicity, religion and gender.

    It is healthy that the President has acknowledged the legitimacy of the concerns and promised that they will inform future appointments.

  • Buhari’s appointments and ethnic divide

    SIR: The age-long ethnic divisions and mutual suspicion among Nigerians have been brought to the fore once again. President Buhari recently announced the appointment of six individuals including the Secretary to the Federal Government and this announcement has been met with criticisms from different sections of the Nigerian society. A statement in defence of the president’s appointments of twenty five persons since the beginning of the administration stated that the president would right the wrong and would ensure to pacify all frayed nerves in subsequent political appointments.

    Some Nigerians have also faulted this statement saying that the president knew all along that the appointments made so far were tilted towards a certain section of the Nigerian society.

    Now President Buhari has been tagged the “King of the North” in an article by no less a person than Chief Femi Fani-Kayode who described the president’s appointments in three months after he was sworn into office as a mess. This article has lent its voice to the various criticisms and attacks on President Buhari’s political appointments and has also increased the debate about the intentions and agenda of the president.

    We the Nigerian people, especially political parties and politicians, have to champion the task of nation building through cohesion and integration of the diversity of cultures and ethnic groups in Nigeria. We need to move away from our old ways of thinking because Nigeria has been experiencing a setback on account of tribalism, ethnicity, sectionalism, zoning and federal character. President Buhari should not see these attacks and criticisms over his government’s appointments as personal but rather as a wake-up call and an opportunity to work earnestly towards achieving nationhood and national unity as many Nigerians do not have an outlook of one Nigeria.

    Chief Femi Fani-Kayode said in his article that the logic of ignoring federal character for merit is absurd. Besides, he concluded that equitable distribution of political appointments is a pre-requisite for peace, security and national unity.

    I beg to disagree with this assertion as federal character and zoning have not served our collective interest since independence. What they have done at best is to inflict pains on the Nigerian people and hamper the country’s growth and development. That is why the issue of tribalism, ethnicity and sectionalism still remain a big problem in Nigeria after 54 years of independence. Nigerian politicians and leaders should not fan the embers of discord and disunity among the different tribes and ethnic groups of the Nigerian society. They should rather champion the cause of national unity and nationhood.

    Federal character, zoning and the likes have been used over the years as a way of addressing the problem of ethnicity and tribalism in Nigeria but these principles have failed to solve the problem of disunity —creating ýmore problems that the APC had to run away from them due to the negative impact they had on the PDP during their 16 years rule.

    Some people have admonished those who argue in favour of merit over federal character not to speak like illiterates. Well, being in support of federal character over merit as a criterion for government appointments does not mean that a person knows very much either.

    President Buhari has to work tirelessly towards achieving national unity and nationhood. Though the present administration has security, the fight against corruption and jobs creation through the economy as its top priorities due to the ýexigency of our current national crisis, the Buhari administration now has to include national unity as one of its top priorities.

    The president’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, has said that political appointments would be balanced in the long run. It is not enough to balance government’s appointments but it is important to change our sectional and regional outlook which has affected our ability to see ourselves as Nigerians first.

    President Buhari and all political elites have to work towards fostering social harmony among over 170 million Nigerians and not contribute towards widening the ethnic divide that has plagued the country for many years. Governor Adams Oshiomhole in his defence of the president’s appointments said that we must not reduce governance to political patronage of bread and butter but unfortunately, we are yet to move beyond this point as a country. Besides, political appointments have over the years been consolation prizes rather than getting the best minds to move us into the future.

    Nigerian leaders and politicians must recognise the dangers posed to the unity of Nigeria by being sentimental, encouraging tribalism and playing the ethnic card. It is high time they began to work on addressing issues emanating from our stark contradictions and flawed political foundation; and which are responsible for Nigeria’s perennial crisis as well as the current criticisms and reactions trailing President Buhari’s recent appointments.

    We are at the early months of the new administration and there is no better time to work towards national unity and nationhood than now.

     

    • Bolaji Samson Aregbeshola is  the author of ‘’Nigerian Political Parties and Politicians: Winding Road from Country to Nation’’.

  • APC backs Buhari over appointments

    The National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Lai Mohammed has debunked reports that some party leaders were not happy over the appointments made by President Muhammadu Buhari .

    Mohammed, who spoke on a programe-Sunrise Daily monitored on channels Television yesterday insisted that the party is happy about the appointment and stressed that “all the APC members  are behind the President on the issue of this appointment”.

    He said it is too early to judge the administration of President Buhari based on about 40 out of 1,000 appointments made so far. According to him, the President will make the right decisions on appointments and he will be gender-friendly.

    The APC spokesman disagreed with the statement credited to Chief John Odigie-Oyegun that APC will be more involved in other appointments. He said: “I read the full statement of the National Chairman of my party, and what he said was that these are personal staff. It’s too early to make a judgment, you do not take part to be the whole. Future appointments will be different but these are personal staff.”

    Talking about personal staff, Muhammed said: “I have been a Chief of Staff, and as the Chief of Staff, I was the first person the Governor saw in the morning and the last he saw at night almost on daily basis. As the Chief of Staff, I was the link between the Governor’s personal and public life.

    “You can’t choose anybody from any party for that kind of job. There must be a relationship between you and your principal which must be personal,” he said.

    The APC image maker said that the calculation and permutation by Nigerians on who the President will appoint is wrong.” There should be no fixation on any particular office going to any particular part of the country. The fact that it went to a particular part of the country in the previous administration does not mean it will go there in this present dispensation.

    “What we should focus on is the assurance from the government that in the fullness of time, no part of this country will feel marginalised by the kind of appointments that would be made.”

    Speaking on the role of social media in influencing the APC in making decisions on appointments, Mohammed said as much as we are going to be a responsive government, we won’t be stampeded by any opinion to take a decision which clearly does not fit into our own vision.

    Gender Rights activist, Mary Ikoku said it was too early to say that the appointments made so far is a reflection of gender imbalance. She said since Buhari said he is a born again democrat, he cannot shut out women that constitute more than 50 per cent of the population in appointing his team. Nigerians should allow him to make all his appointments rather than distract him, she pleaded.

     

  • New appointments vindicate Buhari, says South East APC

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in the south east geopolitical zone has said that recent appointments by President Muhammadu Buhari is a clear demonstration that the President bears no grudge against any section of the country.

    In a statement by its Zonal Spokesman, Osita Okechukwu, a copy of which was made available to newsmen in Abuja, the party said the appointment of Dr Ibe Kachikwu and Engr. Dennis Ajulu as GMD and GED Exploration and Production of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) respectively vindicates the President’s earlier position that every region of the country under his watch would receive equal and fair treatment.

    He also hailed the enlistment of Enugu Airport among the airports to be upgraded, describing it as a clear indication and demonstration that President Buhari bears no grudge against Ndigbo for not voting for him.

    He recalled that the South-East APC had earlier assured the Igbo that President Buhari would not marginalize them for not voting for him, and urged them to disregard rumour merchants who peddle the falsehood the president hates Ndigbo.

    Okechukwu further recalled that, “in the same vein, they detailed the various meetings President Buhari held with Igbo leaders in the course of the presidential campaign, his commitments and how on 7th November, 2014, he personally wrote to Ohaneze Ndigbo.”

    Okechukwu, however, appealed to the President to note, among other things, the dilapidated federal roads in the South East zone; the 2nd Niger Bridge; revamping of Enugu Coal and resolution of the tangle between Geometric Power and Interstate Electric in Aba.

  • My appointments are fair and just, says Ortom

    •Pledges to use bailout to pay salaries

    Benue state Governor Samuel Ortom has declared that appointments made by his administration, took into consideration, the interest of all sections in the state to ensure that they were fair and just.

    He made the disclosure during a meeting with Idoma second class chiefs at the Och’Idoma’s palace in Otukpo yesterday, in continuation of his meetings with  traditional rulers across the state.

    According to him the appointments were made in consultation with stakeholders in line with the administration’s philosophy of fairness, equity, justice and due process all aimed at reducing acrimony in the polity.

    He said no section in the state had the monopoly of holding onto a particular position for too long, pointing out that it was in such light that the position of Secretary to the State government was now moved to Benue North West while, the State Head of Service went to Benue South in addition to five commissionership slots, while the other senatorial districts had four each.

    The Governor said the Benue North East had five advisers, North West four, and South six.

    He appealed to people of the state to see rotation of appointments and other decisions of government as part of the change that Nigerians had fought for. He used the occasion to  restate commitment of the administration to the welfare of the people, especially payment of salaries, pensions and provision of critical infrastructure.

    He also pledged to create an enabling environment for the private sector to thrive and boost the state’s economy.

    Governor Ortom who was accompanied by the state Deputy Governor, Engineer Benson Abounu, called on the Idoma Area Traditional Council to collaborate with the administration to tackle security challenges in the state and particularly in their domain.

    Gov Ortom commended the Och’Idoma for remaining non partisan and admonished all royal fathers in the state to eschew partisan politics.

    In his remarks, the Och’Idoma, Dr Elias Ekoyi Obekpa, stated that the people were more concerned with the provision of good governance than appointments of which  they were not complaining about.

    He commended Governor Ortom for finding one of their sons, Engineer Abounu worthy to be his Deputy.

    The Och’Idoma also expressed confidence, that all the problems confronting the administration were surmountable, promised that they would continue to pray for him to succeed and that on their part they would remain non partisan in dealing with the people.

    In another development, Gov Ortom acknowledged that Benue State has received N2.7 billion from the bailout which President Muhammadu Buhari approved for states. He made the disclosure yesterday still at the Och’Idoma’s palace in Otukpo.

    Governor Ortom explained that although the money was not enough to pay one month’s salary with overhead. He however assured that, he would source for more funds elsewhere and add to it and pay salaries and pensions.

    He maintained that at the moment, the state has a monthly wage bill of N3.7 billion including overheads, noting that apart from the bailout, the state government would improve on its internal revenue sources to enable it sustain payment of salaries and pensioners.

    Governor Ortom said the wage bill was bloated hence his directive for staff audit.

    He said the exercise was not to witch-hunt anybody, but to block leakages and accountability in managing resources.

  • ‘Consider Southeast in appointments’

    A group, under the aegis of Izu Ndigbo has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to consider Southeast in the appointment of key officials.

    The group said since the inception of the new administration, the zone had not produced any key official.

    In a statement by the group’s National Coordinator and Secretary, Sir Paschal Ahizih and Benjamin Anyanwu, the group said the southeast lost the post of the President, Vice President, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, President of the Court of Appeal, Accountant General of the Federation and other key positions.

    The statement reads: “Call it Federal Character, balance of power, being your brother’s keeper, equality among the federating units or no victor no vanquish, all is aimed at trusting each other through fair allocation of engagement and allocation of means of governance and administration in the Nigerian nation-state”.

    The group urged the Buhari-led administration to consider its request by considering the zone for subsequent appointments.

     

  • Okowa faces Itsekiri, Isoko revolt over key appointments

    Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa appears to be heading for a revolt from the Ijaw and Itsekiri because of their perceived neglect in key early appointments by the new administration.

    It was gathered that the groups expressed anger over the purported hijack of key positions, such as Chief of Staff at the Government House and the Director of Protocol by Okowa’s and his Deputy’s Ika and Ijaw ethnic groups.

    It was also learnt that Okowa will today announce a former member of the National Assembly, Tams Brisibe, as the Chief of Staff to the Government House.

    Brisibe and Deputy Governor Kingsley Otuaro are Ijaw.

    It was learnt that one of Okowa’s kinsman, whose name could not be confirmed last night,  would be inaugurated as the Director of Protocol (DoP).

    Also, a former Commissioner of Finance from Urhobo in Delta Central is being touted to become the Secreatary to the State Government (SSG), a move that some sources said may scuttle the ambitions of Itsekiri members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who hoped the position would be zoned to them.

    Reacting to the development, Omovudu Jaro Egbo, a lawyer and member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, warned that it signalled danger for the state.

    Egbo said: “Delta is for all Deltans; prosperity must be for all Deltans.”

    The APC chieftain noted that a situation where key positions are grabbed by a section of the state would not augur well for the government or the people.

    But he added: “Change is surely coming to Delta; APC is the answer to a united Delta State.”

    Also, Okowa’s action is being perceived as a continuation of his alleged cold war with his predecessor and key members of the past government, particularly Comrade Ovouzorie Macaulay, who is seen as a diehard supporter of former Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan’s.

    One of the aggrieved PDP leaders in Warri, who spoke in confidence, likened the early appointments to “Okowa putting his worse foot first.

    He said: “This is a clear indication that Governor Okowa is coming in with a clear mindset to witch-hunt a section of the state, particularly leaders from the two ethnic groups. It is now clear that the new administration is a government of a selected few for a selected few.”

  • Cowry Asset’s chief lauds SEC’s appointments, demutualisation

    The recent appointments at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the ongoing efforts on demutualisation of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) will engender a more inclusive and globally competitive Nigerian capital market.

    Managing Director, Cowry Asset Management Limited, Mr. Johnson Chukwu, said the recent confirmation of Mr. Munir Gwarzo as the substantive director general of SEC would lead to consolidation of the improvements witnessed under him as the acting director general.

    According to him, the confirmation of Gwarzo was much expected by market operators as he had earned the confidence of the stakeholders in the capital market.

    He noted that capital market operators had earlier recommended the confirmation of Gwarzo to President Goodluck Jonathan based on Gwarzo’s pedigree and performance since he assumed office in acting capacity.

    “We have seen timely response to issues, prompt feedback and approvals since Mr. Gwarzo assumed office. We are also witnessing an improvement in the work environment in SEC and a more open relationship with market operators and other organisations under SEC supervision such as Nigerian Stock Exchange,” Chukwu said.

    He added that the appointment of Mr. Peter Obi, the former Governor of Anambra State, former chairman of Fidelity Bank and member of President’s Economic Management Team would clearly provide a fillip to the ongoing efforts to transform the Nigerian capital market to global standard through the capital market roadmap.

    According to him, Obi’s experience in the private sector and his sterling records will avail the board of SEC with uncommon direction required for the next level of market development.

    Chukwu also commended the ongoing efforts on the demutualisation of the NSE noting that this will bring the ownership and governance structure of the Exchange in tandem with global stock exchanges.

    “A demutualised Nigerian Stock Exchange would make investing on instruments listed on the Exchange more attractive to both local and foreign investors as the Exchange will then adopt the best global practices and certainly become more transparent. It is one of the key market development initiatives required to internationalise the Nigerian capital market,” Chukwu said.

    He expressed support for the rule by the SEC limiting trade groups’ equity interest in the demutualised Exchange to 20 per cent and individuals’ interest to five per cent, pointing out that this is necessary to allow for broad ownership structure and avoid situations where a dominant trade group or individual would have controlling interest in such a key capital market institution.

     

     

  • ‘Appoint police chief for Lagos’

    A Lagos-based group has called on the Acting Inspector-General of Police Suleiman Abba to appoint a Police Commissioner for the state, owing to the country’s security situation.

    The group, Concerned People of Lagos State, in a statement yesterday by its National President, Prince Olusegun Ologbese, said to leave the state without a police head “is a fundamental mistake that must be corrected immediately.”

    Ologbese said any police commissioner to be deployed “must be equal to the security task, active, experienced and knowledgeable about the state’s security situation.”

    It decried the method of appointing IGs in the past whereby junior officers were always picked, necessitating the sudden retirements of their seniors who could have been useful one way or another to the nation.

    The group observed that such early or compulsory retirements were detrimental to the affected police officers and a big loss to the nation, considering the colossal money and materials used in training them.

    It cautioned the government against tribalising or politicising the appointments of Inspector-Generals, Army, Navy and Air Force chiefs.

    “Their appointments must always be based on merit, loyalty and seniority, to secure the absolute confidence and trust of senior military and security officers.