The National Coordinator of the Oodua Peoples’ Congress, Otunba Gani Adams has advised the President, Muhammadu Buhari not to rule the country by creating a caucus with his appointments.
The OPC coordinator noted that his current political appointments has clearly shown lopsidedness in favour of the northern part of the country.
Chief Gani said: “The lopsided appointments have become glaring to many Nigerians because about 85 per cent of appointment by the present administration is tilted in favour of the north.
“In a situation like this the polity will be over-heated because other sections of the country that are shortchanged in the federation will become agitated”.
He added: “It will also encourage disunity because when the sharing formula to share political offices is lopsided and is not balanced people will perceive Mr. President as playing a northern agenda”.
Charging the president to be ready to take responsibility for his actions and inaction, the OPC leader urged Buhari to scrutinize all appointment lists before approval as he will be judged accordingly.
He said: “A good example that readily comes to mind is the appointments at the Nigerian Port Authority. When was the last time a person of western extraction gets appointed into the management of the NPA? The president should not forget that Lagos is the commercial nerve centre of Nigeria where it is generating income from the ports in Lagos. About 75% of revenue generated internally is coming from Lagos State and the ports especially.
“When people are talking about resource control, what Lagos has is the abundant bodies of water that is generating income for the government. The president should realise and be informed that Nigerians are not happy with the appointment by the president”.
He further challenged the president’s decision to hand overr three portfolios to the former Lagos state Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN. The OPC leader maintained that the combined load will lower his effectiveness in delivering his duties.
“The appointment of three portfolios to Barrister Babatunde Raji Fashola from Lagos, about 70 % of the Permanent Secretaries are from the north. If you are a minister there is little you can achieve without the support of the Permanent Secretaries.
“Most of the parastatals, a good percentage of public officers in this position are from the north. This is obviously not good for our democracy. The last time we experienced lopsided appointment of this magnitude was during the military era in 1984 to 1999.
He continued: “When Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was in power he had always emphasized that he was not a Yoruba president. He made sure he balanced appointments and in spite of that the northerners had good representation in his cabinet all through. It was about 65% for the northerners and 45% percent for southerners.”
He further maintained that the current percentage of appointments which has gone to the north stands at 85 percent. He added: “With just a little over a year in office, the president as the father of the nation still has the opportunity to right the wrongs and make amends.
“Every person can represent Nigeria and protest her interest in terms of provision of safety and security. In terms of probing corrupt practices in the country he should extend the probe to the reign of former civilian rule in 1979 all through President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration and not limit it to Jonathan’s administration. Nigeria has been swimming in corruption since the time of the military rule.
“This will give him the opportunity for a wholesome sanitization of the system.”
“Every Nigerian is entitled to appointment into political positions and anyone found wanting, the president has the power to replace and probe such a person. Did he know the character of the people he has given appointments too. You don’t trust people until when given power and money. Human beings can change and put up a new attitude overnight. Followers of Jesus Christ even betrayed Him as close as they were.
Charging the president to be fair in his nominations, Gani Admans said: “He possesses the powers as the commander-in-chief to remove any erring public appointee. But with permanent mindset that a particular section of the country are the people he can trust or work with is bad. If he does not trust them they in turn will not trust him as a leader.
“The president should not rule the country on the basis of forming a caucus”