•Like his predecessor, president treading path of nepotism

– MBF, ADF, CCDI, Tanko, others 

•No, his appointments are in order – Yoruba, Arewa groups

From Magnus Eze, Enugu; Chukwudi Nweje, Lagos; Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri; Noah Ebije, Kaduna, Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja

Leaders of several socio-political organisations across the country are miffed at what they term the nepotistic tendencies of the current administration as displayed by some appointments made by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

They lamented that many key positions in the federal cabinet as well as in the military and paramilitary organisations have been given to the president’s loyalists from his Yoruba ethnic stock, especially his old friends from Lagos, his state of origin.

Among the current 45 ministers that have been inaugurated by the president, nine are from the South-West, while the South East boasts of five. One of the new ministerial nominees confirmed by the Senate earlier in the week is also from the South West, bringing the number of ministers from the president’s region to 10.  Also, the Chief of Army Staff, Inspector-General of Police, Ag Customs boss, Governor of Central Bank, Minister of Finance, and Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, among others, are all of the president’s ethnic stock.

However, some other groups have insisted that the president has not erred with the distribution of his appointments, noting that the president has spread appointments to every nook and cranny of the country.

Among the president’s accusers are The Middle Belt Forum (MBF), Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF), Alaigbo Development Foundation (ADF), the Cultural Credibility Development Initiative (CCDI), Igbo National Congress (INC) and Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL). Conversely, the Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere; Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF); Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the 19 Northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) averred that the president has been doing the right thing in his appointments.

Tanko Yunusa, presidential candidate of the National Conscience Party (NCP) in 2019 said: “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appointing his friends and cronies to sensitive positions is not an issue, it is expected. It would be news if he had done something different. Former President Buhari did the same thing. What you are seeing now is nepotism raised to power two.

Also, Dr. Bitrus Pogu, president of the MBF, rejected the defence put up by Tinubu’s team that the president made his appointments based on competence. He insisted that there are competent people in every part of Nigeria not just the South West.

He blamed former President Buhari for initiating the nepotism template, which he said would further divide the country.

He said, “Tinubu is responding to what Buhari did when he was in office. Buhari appointed his kin and the North did not care. Today Tinubu is in office and he is appointing his own brothers. Every section of the country will believe that when it gets to their turn, they will play their own game. It is unfortunate; such development will keep dividing the country. You cannot build a nation that way; you build a nation on equity, justice, and fair play. There are qualified people everywhere in Nigeria not only in Yorubaland.”

President of Cultural Credibility Development Initiative (CCDI), Chief Ralph Uwazurike, urged Tinubu to retrace his steps and do the right thing.

He said: “The 1999 Constitution enjoins political governance to maintain federal character. In other words, the president or governor must ensure equitable representation of the different parts of the country or state in appointments and positions; this is mandatory, not optional. This provision is there to avoid tribalism, parochialism, and nepotism. It is there to ensure that all parts of the country are carried along; it is different from the federal character provision of one minister from each state.”

According to the ADF scribe, Chief Abia Onyike, the issue was not a mere allegation; it has substance.

“We are not surprised at the sudden turn of events. The Tinubu faction of the Yoruba ruling class has proved to be the most backward and reactionary. First, that faction went into a retrogressive alliance with the most right wing faction of the Northern caliphate in 2015. That alliance produced the most vicious government in Nigerian history. The national economy went topsy-turvy while the state looked the other way as Fulani herdsmen massacred Nigerians with impunity.

“Now, Tinubu has started with his own separatist agenda. And just like under the Buhari Presidency, the Igbo are on the receiving end once again,” Onyike said. The President, Igbo National Congress (INC), Chilo Godsent, said the lopsidedness of Tinubu’s appointments was capable of fuelling insecurity in the country. He advised the president to reverse most of the appointments and make them more even according to the ethnic groupings of the country.

President General of Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL), Goodluck Ibem, said the anomaly befell Nigerians from 2015 when Buhari came on board with similar ethnic agenda. The South East youth leader urged President Tinubu to have a rethink, do things differently to give his administration the desired national coloration. Also speaking, Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani), Executive Director of CISLAC/Head of Transparency International in Nigeria said “the underlying philosophy of the federal character principle is to ensure equality in public service representation to curb dominance by one or a few sections. But questionable concentration of key appointments in a particular region has become a matter of public concern that if not put to check, may breed policy distrust and disunity.

“The president must not create conditions for Nigerians to think his ability to identify good Nigerian for various leadership positions is limited and only compensate politicians with integrity deficits and only from his ethnic and Lagos where he served as a governor. He should be fair and comply with the Constitutional provisions , federal charter commission and spread the opportunity to serve to all Nigerians.”

But National Publicity of the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, Mr. Jare Ajayi, submitted that the charge of nepotism levelled against President Bola Tinubu is not tenable.

According to him, the administration adheres to the constitutional provision of ensuring that government appointments at federal level are evenly distributed across various parts of the country. This is reflected firstly in having ministers appointed from all the states of the federation and second in the allotment of what are considered as ‘key’ ministries or parastatals,” he said.

“For instance, major government institutions in charge of defence, education, health, water resources and agriculture are occupied by people from the North, while the key ministry in charge of infrastructure goes to the South-East. It is undeniable that government ministries or agencies in charge of economy seem to be dominated by people from the South Western part of the country. But, as a look at the ones stated above would indicate, the North is at a great advantage going by the quantum and quality of the offices occupied by people from that region.”

Also, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the 19 Northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, has said that there was nothing wrong with President Tinubu appointing majority of his kinsmen into position of authority under his administration.

The Secretary General, Northern CAN, Elder Sunday Oibe, said as long as those appointed are Nigerians and qualified, there was nothing wrong with such appointments.

“After all nepotism was the order of day under former President Muhammadu Buhari. Tinubu told the entire nation that it’s his turn, which could mean, if Buhari whom he helped into power decided to play the worst form of nepotism and heaven did not fall, it’s now his turn to play the same card.”

Publicity Secretary, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Prof. Tukur Muhammad-Baba, stressed that as long as those appointed by President Tinubu can perform and deliver good governance, it did not matter if they were all appointed from one section of the country or region. Muhammad-Baba said precedence, as long as nepotism is concerned, had been set under immediate regime of President Muhammadu Buhari, adding that, “even at that nepotism has not done good to a particular section of the country.”

Also, the President of AYCF, Alhaji Yerima Shettima, noted that it is too early in the life of the administration to draw the conclusion that Tinubu was being nepotistic. He however vowed to call out Tinubu if he toes that line.

In his view, Dr. Ken Robinson, National Publicity Secretary Pan Niger Delta Forum, (PANDEF) noted:

“Perhaps, the best way to evaluate this would be to look at the attendant situation in the immediate past administration. Under the Buhari administration, we had a situation whereby out of 17 key military, para-military, and intelligence agencies in the country, 14 were headed by persons from a particular section of the country, and largely two geopolitical zones; they included the Minister of Defence, National Security Adviser, Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Naval Staff, Inspector General of Police, Director General of the Department of State Service (DSS), Director General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Commandant-General of the Nigeria Security & Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Comptroller-General of the Customs Service and the Comptroller-General of the Immigration Service, among others.

It would be needless to apprise that a situation whereby one particular ethnic group or section of the country occupies all strategic positions in the polity will heighten the feelings of alienation and exclusion. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu needs to demonstrate and reassure Nigerians of his administration’s sincere commitment to the well-being of all Nigerians; north, south, east, or west; irrespective of religion or ethnicity.

It’s apparent that the President inherited a massive governance burden but he must deal with the situations forthrightly, with sincerity of purpose and strong political will. He must work for the good of all Nigerians.”

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