Mr Ebi Beredugo, Chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bayelsa, has advised President Muhammadu Buhari to reshuffle his cabinet and inject technocrats to key positions to achieve the change promised by the party.
Beredugo told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in an interview on Thursday in Yenagoa that most of the political appointees in the present administration have outlived their usefulness and must go.
He said that it was the professional expertise of technocrats, not politicians that were required to make the much desired impact on the economic front as well as infrastructure.
He said impact that would build up the goodwill that also result to political goodwill ahead the 2019 general elections.
“The president must tinker with his cabinet. He must bring in more technocrats. He must use technocrats to steer the country to the next level.
“I want to say that the politicians, who are surrounding the president, should be dropped as they are not making any positive contribution. It is time the country brings in more technocrats,” Beredugo said.
The legal practitioner said the notion that the politicians would work for the re-election of the president was erroneous, saying the second term of the president would depend on the impact of his administration.
“No, Nigerians will decide whether to bring you for second term, not those politicians who deep down have lost touch even with their grassroots.
“Those politicians can’t deliver the president, we must get this clear because they have disconnected even from their grassroots. They can’t even deliver their states.
“They can only use federal might to come and cause confusion because they cannot actually deliver their states.
“So why not bring in more of experts and technocrats, let Nigerians feel the change in their lives. Let Nigerians begin to enjoy the dividends of good governance,” he counselled.
Beredugo noted that the goodwill that earned the present administration the support of Nigerians in 2015 is waning.
“Can we actually and sincerely say if an election holds right now, today, can we actually say president Buhari will win that election?
“Does he still have the goodwill of Nigerians to believe in him that we are making progress?
“Are we making progress in the anti-corruption fight, why should we enter 2018 without reshuffling his cabinet?”, Beredugo asked rhetorically.
He observed that the mix up in the appointment of persons into the board of parastatals was a pointer that the Buhari team was not up to their game.
He wondered why a list of appointees that was compiled since 2015 was not vetted and updated before it was finally released.
“Even though we support this government, sometimes we are not impressed with the things that come out from the Presidency; that mix up is avoidable,’’ Beredugo said. (NAN)