By Abba Hamisu Sani
Africa-Press – Nigeria. President Bola Tinubu’s appointment of various heads of Federal government Agencies is gradually becoming a source of concern to different Nigerians that include Politicians, tribal leaders and human right champions.
From the beginning of his appointments Nigerians applauded him for making all Inclusive appointments but with the way things are going in the subsequent sharing of positions the confidence begins to fade off.
Even from the appointment of Ministers the Tinubu’s allies were designated with what is perceived to be the Juicy Ministries like Finance,Budget and planning, and Solid Minerals.
The recent appointments that sparked some section of Nigerians is that of new Central Bank of Nigeria’s Governor Dr Olayemi Michael Cardoso and the chairman of Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Zacch Adedeji.
Nepotism as criteria for making appointments in Nigeria
By appointing close associates into various strategic positions Tinubu is repeating the same mistake that former President Muhammadu Buhari was accused of during his eight years as president from 2015 to 2023.
Nigeria as a multi ethnic nation need to have leaders that can identify talents and competent people from all nock and cronies for appointment in to the right positions
At least 20 consequential appointments from the South West, including headship of Ministries Department and Agencies like Justice, Finance, Customs, Police, Federal Inland Revenue Service , Immigration Service NIMC, Central Bank of Nigeria, Power, Digital Economy, COAS, Maritime, Interior and Communications in the president’s kitchen cabinet.
In addition to his hard-to-swallow economic direction, Tinubu’s choice of appointees is somehow causing concerns among the elite too. Without a semblance of inclusion and symbolism, the people feel let down by a president they thought was going to be pan-Nigerian, who is gradually becoming provincial in deeds, even as appointments only enrich the beneficiaries, while the conditions of ordinary people remain unchanged.
Competence and capacity should be uppermost in considering people for appointments, but also that all regions or ethnic groups harbor such competent people among them. Going forward, the president should be more circumspect, and look elsewhere, instead of his circle in a delicate balancing act that Nigeria needs, and which will surely give him (Tinubu) more support and goodwill. No matter how inconsequential he thinks these issues are, they have already got tongues wagging.
Even within the ruling APC an internal revolt is brewing over Tinubu’s style of leadership and appointments. In what a group called urbanization of the current APC government, the APC members in Coalition for a United Nigeria (CUN), said 86 percent of the critical appointments made so far have been people from Tinubu’s geopolitical zone, the Southwest.
“Moreso, to our greater bewilderment is the fact that 90% of these people are your Lagos boys They thus implored the president to drastically balance this prejudice by giving attention to other regions outside the Southwest”. The group agitated
MURIC Expressed Concerned over the lopsided appointments
Professor Ishaq Akintola is the Director General Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC).The human right activist expressed dismay on the manner Tinubu made appointments as Yoruba Christians dominated the key positions.
professor Akintola disclose this in a statement recently
The leader of the advocacy group alleged that Tinubu is ignoring Muslims who are also considered competent to hold some public offices in his administration while populating his cabinet with Christians and Yoruba people.
The MURIC DG described Tinubu’s appointment as lopsided and a disappointment to Muslims who thought the Muslim-Muslim ticket adopted by the ruling party would ensure inclusive government in the country.
“We are shocked to our marrows that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been appointing Christians and Yorubas mainly to key positions since the inception of this administration at the expense of Muslims,” the statement said.
“For instance, five out of eight security chiefs appointed earlier are Christians. Ministerial posts have not been different.
All five key appointments made by President Tinubu to revive the economy were given to Christians and Yorubas mainly.
These new appointees include the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, the newly nominated CBN Governor, Dr. Michael Cardoso, Zacch Adedeji, Acting Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Services, the Chairman, Tax Reforms Committee, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele and Mr. Tope Fasua, Special Adviser on Economic Affairs.
Many competent Muslims who campaigned and voted for Muslim-Muslim ticket during the presidential election were ignored.”MURIC Director General said
“It is interesting to note that some of those Muslims are eminently qualified to hold key political offices since there are professors, engineers, medical doctors and holders of doctorate degrees among them.
Competent people from the other regions were ignored
Professor Ishaq also said people like Professor Ali Isa Pantami who took the communication and digital economy to enviable heights during the last administration were ignored.
“Our message to President Tinubu is this (we want the president’s handlers to take this to him) ,the cacophony of voices of dissatisfied Muslims has reached an unbearable crescendo such that MURIC is now constrained to speak up.
People are complaining, particularly Muslims from the North and South West and they can only be ignored at the risk of foregoing 2027.
Meanwhile we in MURIC accept full responsibility for the dilemma facing Nigerian Muslims as their Muslim-Muslim ticket has turned into a ‘Christian majority government’.
We admit being in the forefront of the campaign for a Yoruba Muslim presidency which has become a bone in the throat of Yoruba Muslims in particular and Nigerian Muslims in general.” He said
Lagos People benefited more from Tinubu’s appointments
Emmanuel Onwubiko, is the Coordinator Human Right Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA). He described the President Ahmed Bola Tinubu’s selection of political appointees as lopsided.
The activist claimed that most of the key appointments made so far by the president were people of his Yoruba ethnic group with Lagos connections.
This was contained in a press statement recently released by the group in Abuja.
Mr Onwubiko cited the recent appointments of the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service as attestation to his claim.
”With a little over 100 days on the saddle, the President’s appointments have shown he appears to have special consideration for people from his south-west region, especially those with links to Lagos State,” he said.
The group also cautioned the president not to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, whom it accused of engaging in overwhelming tribalistic appointments.
“If President Tinubu’s appointment of new service chiefs sparked new hope and drew deserved plaudits in that it recognised the nation’s diversity, his subsequent appointments curiously departed from that template.
“That the disastrous previous administration of Muhammadu Buhari ) towed a visionless, divisive path in the overwhelming tribalistic appointments it made, should never excuse this course that fundamentally degrades the legitimate dream of a new, progressive, inclusive Nigerian state.
Today, the stakes are extremely high and Nigerians are mindful that a failure to achieve democratic stability through a meritorious, transparent, inclusive governance process may imperil the country’s future as a coherent state. Mere political rewards and seeming ethnic nationalism should not drive the national journey. It is a perilous, avoidable option.
The Human Rights Writers’ Association of Nigeria [HURIWA] strongly believes that this is the wrong path to thread, especially against the background of deep mistrust, misery, political and economic dislocations
brazenly birthed by the predecessor administration. We believe that like Caesar’s Wife, the Tinubu administration ought to be above suspicion.
“We recall here that the central driving mantra and foundational philosophy on which the ruling All Progressives Congress sold its presidential candidate Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, now President, to Nigerians, was “Renewed Hope.” Nigerians bought into it and voted the Asiwaju and APC to power because it deeply resonated with the populace. But what is the reality?,” the group queried.
However the allegations of nepotism and lopsided appointments against Tinubu are not only from human right organizations like Muslim Rights Concern and Human Right Writers Association of Nigeria but also from the ruling APC members who claimed that they were neglected after supporting president Tinubu to Victory.
Revolts from such party stalwarts will not do good to the government that iit’s popularity is at stake particularly due to the economic policies it initiated which is not in favor of the majority.
There is an urgent need for Tinubu”s administration to change its direction as many Nigerians begin to consider the administration as an upshot of Lagos State government under the same Tinubu as Governor from 1999 to 2007.
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