Nigerians rage over Buhari’s lop-sided appointments

Although the appointments so far made by President Muhammadu Buhari could be said to be “unserious positions” except those of the acting chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and director-general of the State Security Service (SSS), Nigerians at the weekend rose in condemnation of what they termed lop-sided appointments, saying they were signs of what to come.

The 72-year old President, who has been called several names for his inability to appoint ministers, and other principal officers to hit the ground running more than one month after inauguration of his government, has so far made 11 appointments. Of all the appointments, only one was from the South.

The appointments include: Ahmed Joda (North), head, Transition Committee; Adamu Adamu (North), secretary, Transition Committee; Lawal Daura (North), director-general, State Security Service (SSS); Amina Zakari (North), acting chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and Mordecai Ladan (North), head, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR). Others are Ahmed Idris (North), accountant-general of the Federation (AGF); Abdulrahman Mani (North), chief security officer (CSO), Lawal Kazaure (North), state chief of protocol; Mohammed Abubakar, a lieutenant-colonel (North), as ADC, and Shehu Garba (North), senior special assistant (SSA) Media & Publicity.

Only Femi Adeshina, special adviser, Media & Publicity, is from South.

Those who spoke with BD SUNDAY noted that such style of appointments smack of insensitivity to the feelings of other compatriots in a country where issues of ethnicity and religion are very strong.

They wondered if such appointments were a reflection of what are to be expected in the next four years, and if such posturing was capable of engendering the much desired change on the plank of which APC clinched victory in the March 28 Presidential election.

Gabriel Agbo of Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Ogba, Ikeja, Lagos, said: “Why is Buhari replacing everybody with Northerners? We will definitely see Buhari and brothers and sisters government. Hope the man will be wiser this time. Put on your seat belts, please!”

But a commentator expressed the belief that for Buhari to do the retooling of the economy as Nigerians are expecting him to do, he must be allowed a free hand to choose those he wants to work with, no matter wherever he may find them.

“People are complaining that he is hiring from his home town. And so what! What do you expect? You want him to hire ‘Mama Peace’ as Finance minister? Look at the state of the economy he inherited. We tasked him to perform the miracle of stabilising the nation, curtailing corruption and guiding the economy back unto sound footings. He cannot afford to hire people he does not trust; even one shady individual working against his administration is not an acceptable risk. Let him hire whomever he wants to hire so that at the end of the day, he will have no excuse if he does not deliver? ” the analyst said.

Buhari and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), have been facing strong criticism over the slow pace with which the Federal Government is approaching matters that demand urgent attention.

In the last two weeks, his compatriots had grown impatient over the worsening state of affairs in the country. Analysts say that the reason for the disappointment was the continued rampage of the Boko Haram insurgents in the North East, despite the assurances of the party that it would put the insurgents to rout within one month of exercising control of power at the centre.

According to the pundits, the refusal of the president and the Vice President to declare their assets openly contrary to their promise to Nigerians amounted to a breach of contract.

Recall that the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the major opposition party in the country currently, has continued to express concern over the state of affairs since APC took over the reins of power.

Olisa Metuh, national publicity secretary of PDP, said his party was deeply worried that the President, who promised to unveil his cabinet two weeks after his inauguration, has not been able to decide on key appointments such as ministers, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and advisers in key sectors of the economy.

According to Metuh, “We urge Nigerians to join hands in prayers and offer useful suggestions to President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC because with what we have seen in the last 30 days, the present administration is finding it very difficult to get its bearings right while showing no inclination towards implementing its numerous campaign promises for which they were voted into office at the centre.

“This is more so as the delay has brought government business in ministries, departments and agencies to a dangerous standstill with coordination of important policies vested on ministers and the SGF now in tatters while the system drifts. This situation also creates loopholes through which overzealous persons around the President can connive with unscrupulous elements in the bureaucracy to siphon public resources in addition to possibly misleading the President to violate due process by spending beyond and outside his statutory limits.”

The opposition also noted that “The situation is taking its toll on the economy sector, which has in the 30 days witnessed unprecedented decline with a terrifying crippling of foreign and domestic investments, including activities in the money and capital market sectors. Under President Buhari, the stock market has lost over N238 billion while the All-Share Index fell by 849.87 basis points as at June 19.”

Zebulon Agomuo