Appointments: Uproar as Buhari favours Northerners

Nigerians especially those from the Southern part of the
country on Friday, expressed concern over the
appointments made so far by President Muhammadu
Buhari.
They said the appointments were lopsided and not in
the best interest of the country.
President Buhari is from Katsina State, Senate President
Bukola Saraki and House of Representatives Speaker,
Yakubu Dogara, are from Kwara and Bauchi states
respectively. The judiciary is led by Justice Mahmud
Mohammed from Taraba State.
Of the nine appointments made by Buhari so far, eight
are from the North, while one is from the South. The
appointments are: Director-General of the State
Services, Lawal Daura, Katsina State; Acting Chairman,
the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mrs.
Amina Bala Zakari, Jigawa State; Director, the
Department of Petroleum Resources, Mr. Mordecai
Danteni Baba Ladan; and the Accountant-General of
the Federation, Alhaji Ahmed Idris, Kano State.
Others are the State Chief of Protocol, Mallam Lawal
Abdullahi Kazaure; Aide De Camp, Lt.-Col. Muhammed
Lawal Abubakar, Kano State; Senior Special Assistant
on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu; and
Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi
Adesina, South-West.
The appointments, however, drew the ire of Nigerians
who asked Buhari to respect the country’s principle of
federal character.
Already, the Internet, particularly the social media and
blogs, are agog with reactions and counter-reactions on
the matter.
A commentator named Daamazing, on Nairaland ,
Nigeria’s largest discussion forum, accused Buhari of
appointing only Northerners into key positions
announced so far.
The enraged citizen said in pidgin, “After all your mumu
promises, one thing you’ve not achieved, na to dey
appoint all the people for your family tree, dey do
tourism up and down. (After all your promises, you’ve
not achieved anything. All you have done is to appoint
your kinsmen and travel all around the world).”
Another commentator identified simply as Augster, said,
“Buhari, don’t let those who voted for you down
because your appointment of only Northerners into top
positions is baffling us.”
SenseiX, another Nairaland commentator, said it was
wrong for Buhari to have brought Daura, the acting
DSS DG, from retirement to head the agency when
there were qualified persons from other regions of the
country still in service.
He said, “He ignored the entire senior cadre of the
agency- from Bassey Eteng to the least- simply
because they are Southerners. Even if he wanted to
pick a a Northerner, he should have picked from the
service rather than a 62-year-old retiree, whose only
qualification is being Buhari’s kinsman, who was in the
DSS. When former President Goodluck Jonathan
appointed Ekpenyong, he was already a Director of
Operations, same for Gadzama, who was appointed by
Umaru Yar’Adua.”
As of the time of filing this report, the story- Buhari
sacks DG DSS, service chiefs may go- had been read
by 30,722 Nigerians on the PUNCH website, some of
who expressed anger over the development.
A reader named as Ify, said, “In as much as I do not
subscribe to ethnic sentiments, I am sensitive to the
malaise of ethnic distrust in the country. A wise leader
would therefore, thread cautiously around this
landmine. We must patiently navigate our way out of
ethnic bias.
“Let me also point out that Nigeria’s strength is
derived from her diversity, therefore, any government
that wishes to succeed must draw from our diversity,
and not limit itself to the talents from one region
alone.”
Another reader, Omoyooba, said, “In a multi-ethnic and
multi-religious Nigeria, it is insensitive of him to be
making appointments made up of Northern Muslims.
What of the Christians and the Southerners? President
Muhammadu Buhari should know that former President
Goodluck Jonathan started with greater goodwill than
this in 2011 and he ran it aground in four years. Buhari
should not make the same mistake. Nigeria belongs to
everybody.”
On Facebook, Fidelis Anumole-Oparaku, who was
apparently disappointed with the situation, said the
President’s ministerial appointments would not be
much better.
He said, “Because he lacks the power to do so with
ministerial appointments, he will likely give key
positions to Northern Muslims, then the soft ones will
be given to Northern Christians and the South.”
Like the online community, prominent groups in the
South-West – Afenifere, Yoruba Unity Forum and the
Movement for Oodua Republic – said this kind of
lopsided appointments had never happened in the
political history of the country.
While describing the President’s actions as worrisome,
the YUF Secretary-General, Senator Anthony Adefuye,
warned that the earlier the situation was reversed, the
better, adding that the YUF would not expect the North
to marginalise the South.
He said, “The fact that the President, Senate President
and the Speaker of the House of Representatives are
from the North is worrisome. There is no way the North
can take all the principal offices and leave the deputy
to us. It has never happened before and the earlier it is
reverted, the better.
“There is no way that can continue because the South
is not subordinate to the North. The think tank
committee of the YUF will meet soon to look at the
issue and see how it affects the Yoruba people.
However, the development is a wrong signal that must
be corrected.”
While calling on Southerners to be patient and watch
events unfold, Adefuye said no region could be a
subordinate of the other.
“What is more worrisome is that the immediate past
INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, handed over to a
Southerner but the Presidency changed it to a
Northerner. We are watching and waiting to see what
comes out of this new government.”
Adefuye added, “Southerners are always careful and
concerned not to marginalise the North. Therefore, I will
not expect the North to marginalise the South now that
the Presidency is shifted to the region.”
The National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Mr. Yinka
Odumakin, said the group was watching the President’s
actions and taking note of them.
Odumakin, who spoke with one of our correspondents
on Friday, said, “We have taken a position in Afenifere
to watch the President’s actions before we begin to
make comments. By the time we have a clearer picture
of what is happening in the first 100 days of the
President in office, we are certainly going to make a
comprehensive statement.”
Also, the leader of MOR, Mr. George Akinola, said the
country was heading towards total conflict should the
situation continue.
He said, “The country has already been divided along
religious lines. The fault lines are there and will always
be there. This will continue until a time when one way
or the other a conference or a referendum happens.
There is no option that is not on the table but at least
we will prefer the path of peace.”
Representing the interest of the South-Eastern people,
the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Gary
Enwo-Igariwey, asked the President to respect the
principle of federal character in his appointments.
Enwo-Igariwey said, “We expect the President to
recognise other nationalities that make up Nigeria.
Elections are over, it is time for governance. We expect
that the principle of federal character, which is
constitutional, should be respected.
“It is important that in making his appointments, the
President should recognise that there are six geo-
political zones in the country and it is imperative that
he carries all of them along in the spirit of nation
building and as a statesman.”
The Igbo World Union and the Ohanaeze Youth Council
described the President’s actions as a threat to the
corporate existence of Nigeria.
The OYC National President, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro,
said, “Buhari should not abuse his privileged position
as the President of Nigeria for the moment. He should
not forget our federal system but reflect the federal
character in his appointments.
“We are warning him to drop the Northern agenda and
govern Nigeria in line with the constitution which he
sworn to protect. We will hold him by his statement
that ‘he is for nobody and for everybody ‘ except he
now wants to tell us that he is the President of the
North alone.”
According to Isiguzoro, Buhari’s actions demonstrate
that he came to power to reverse the positive steps
made by Jonathan, who gave consideration to Nigeria’s
ethnic plurality in his appointments.
“Jonathan appointed Northerners as his National
Security Adviser, Defence Minister, Inspector-General of
Police, Chief of Defence Staff etc. But so far, Buhari has
shown us that he has no regard for other parts of the
country.”
In his reaction, the President-General of Igbo World
Union, Dr. Mishak Nnanta, asked the President not to
succumb to any ill- advice from individuals with
parochial interest.
The National President of Njiko Igbo Forum, Reverend
Okechukwu Obioha, warned Buhari against running
what he described as a “Northern government.”
Obioha expressed the fear that the trend, if left
unchecked, could destroy the country.
He said, “Buhari is simply running a Northern
government. He is making his appointments as if he is
angry with other sections of the country. The
appointments are lopsided in favour of the North and
that is not acceptable.”