We believe the APC leaders are wrong. Most of the appointments President Muhammadu Buhari has made were occupied by people from the South when Goodluck Jonathan was there.
For example, Jonathan who is from South appointed two Southerners as SSG and HOS, so there is nothing wrong with Buhari who is from North appointing people from the North to the same positions.
But there was an outrage in APC over the announcement of appointments by the President. Some leaders of the party, who spoke to Punch, complained that the appointments tilted in favour of the North.
“The President does not consult before making most of these appointments and I can tell you that Nigerians are going to term the party and the President as a northern party and the President of Northern Nigeria,”
one of the leaders of the party said.
Buhari, according to a statement by his Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, on Thursday approved the appointment of Babachir David Lawal from Adamawa State as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
He also named Mr. Abba Kyari from Borno state as his Chief of Staff.
Other appointments approved by the President, according to the statement, are those of Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali (retd.) as the new Comptroller-General, Nigerian Customs Service; Mr. Kure Martin Abeshi, Comptroller-General, Nigerian Immigration Service; Senator Ita Enang, Senior Special Assistant on National Assembly Matters (Senate); and Suleiman Kawu as SSA on National Assembly Matters (Reps).
Three top national officers of the APC, who spoke with Punch on condition of anonymity shortly after the announcements were made, wondered why the President was appointing only northerners to positions.
They said that the President was already giving the party a bad name among Nigerians. They said they had hoped that he would learn from the criticisms that trailed his first appointments where more northerners were appointed into sensitive positions than southerners.
A source said, “Though the President did not get much votes from the South-East but we must not neglect the zone in key appointments. Even the South-West that supported and was the backbone of the party, what are we giving the zone in appreciation? We need to be careful before the party is destroyed.”
A member of the state executive of APC in a South-West state, said the appointments were lopsided.
He said, “When President Olusegun Obasanjo took over, you saw balance in appointments as he reflected federal character. President Goodluck Jonathan too reflected a semblance of balance. Buhari is pursuing a northern agenda. This is the same agenda pursued by the late Sir Ahmadu Bello, when everything was pro-North. Buhari made six appointments at a go and five of them are northerners.”
The Speaker of one of the Houses of Assembly in the South-West, also complained in the same manner.
The Speaker, who is a member of the APC, said, “This is shocking. It doesn’t speak well at all. The South-West has been completely neglected and the South-East too. The South-West was neglected during the President Goodluck Jonathan years. The South-West must rise up against this.”
