Dayo Oketola, Fisayo Falodi and Jesusegun Alagbe
President Muhammadu Buhari has come
under fire by Southern groups over what they described as “lopsided”
appointments of heads of the various security agencies in the country.
They said the pattern of the
appointments by the President did not reflect federal character and the
diversity nature of the country.
Our findings showed
that 14 of the nation’s 17 security agencies are currently being headed
by Northerners. The majority of them were appointed by President Buhari.
Only three security agencies are headed by Southerners, a situation the groups tagged as “worrisome.”
The Minister of Interior, Lt.-Gen.
Abdulrahman Dambazau (retd.), under whose purview are the Prisons
Service, Immigration Service, Fire Service and the Nigeria Security and
Civil Defence Corps, hails from Kaduna State.
The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur
Yusuf Buratai, is from Borno State. The National Security Adviser,
Maj-Gen. Babagana Monguno (retd.), is also from Borno State. Also from
Borno State is the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission, Mr. Ibrahim Magu.
The Minister of Defence, Brig.-Gen.
Mansur Dan Ali (retd.), hails from Zamfara State, while the Chief of Air
Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, is from Bauchi State. The acting
Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, hails from Niger State.
Also from Niger State is the
Commandant-General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps,
Abdullahi Muhammadu. The Director-General of the Department of State
Services, Lawal Musa Daura, is from Katsina State.
However, the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin, is from Ekiti State in the South-West.
The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria
Immigration Service, Muhammed Babandede, is from Jigawa State, while the
Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ibrahim
Ali (rtd), is from Bauchi State.
The Controller-General of the Nigeria
Prison Service, Alhaji Ja’afaru Ahmed, is from Kebbi State, while the
Federal Road Safety Commission boss, Corps Marshal Boboye Oyeyemi, is
from Kwara State.
Nevertheless, the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, is from Cross River State.
Also, the Director-General of the
National Intelligence Agency, Ayo Oke, who was appointed by former
President Goodluck Jonathan, is from Oyo State.
But the Comptroller-General of the Federal Fire Service, Joseph Anebi, also appointed by Jonathan, is also from the North.
The Director-General of the National
Emergency Management Agency, Sani Didi, from Kaduna State, was also
appointed by the former President in 2010.
Expressing concern over this situation,
the Secretary General of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Dr. Joe Nwosu, said the
appointments so far had not reflected the federal character as
embellished in the country’s Constitution.
He said, “We have been crying out loud
since the first appointments — of the ministers were made — when out of
the 36 ministers, 24 were chosen from the North. Now that other
Nigerians are complaining, it means we are not alone. As a tribe, we
have had a long history of marginalisation from governance in Nigeria.
“The President said the appointments
were made on merit, so are we now saying that only the Northerners have
merit? Where is the federal character which we talk about in Nigeria?”
The spokesperson for the Ijaw National
Congress, Mr. Victor Borubo, said the appointments suggested the
President was “tribalistic” and not “interested” in the country’s
diversity.
He said, “Personally, it is an issue
that has troubled me greatly and the President has not shown any
sensitivity to it — the issue of the Constitution that people from all
the states of the federation should be appointed in such positions.
“But the President is not showing
interest in diversity and this has led to the loss of confidence in his
administration. I think this is why different agitation groups are
springing up across the country.”
Whether the President could perhaps
change some of the appointments to reflect federal character if he is
petitioned by the different groups in the country, Borube said, “I do
not think so. He does not strike me as a listening President. If he
were, we would not have got to this level. He does not really respond to
issues. He carries on as if nothing is happening. We are going through a
lot of pain today because the President is a tribalist. What he needs
to do right now is to save the country.”
The National Publicity Secretary of the
pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, Mr. Yinka Odumakin,
said the mostly Northern composition of the leadership of the country’s
security agencies was “very” dangerous and could lead to the heating up
of the polity.
He said, “The pattern of the
appointments today has not shown enough sensitivity to the diversity of
Nigeria. When you have the IG of the Police, the Chief of Army Staff,
the Chief of Naval Staff and Minister of Defence, the Minister of
Interior and the NSA appointed from a section of the country, what that
means is that when the apparatchiks are meeting, it is a section of the
country that is being represented; it means that the views of other
sections are not accommodated, that is very dangerous.
“That kind of arrangement is a situation
from which genocide germinates because there is no balance in the
security architecture of the country. This is not healthy for the
polity. When you look at the table today, especially at the composition
of the heads of the security agencies, I don’t think everybody is
comfortable.”
The spokesperson for the Ijaw Youth
Congress Worldwide, Mr. Eric Omare, said the situation was worrisome and
unhealthy for the country. He called on the President to make changes
to reflect federal character.
Omare said, “The style of the
President’s recruitment is worrisome. When you appoint people from only
one part of the country, it gives room for concern. For instance, we
have a security challenge in the Niger Delta and we expected he would
appoint someone from here who knows how to deal with it. However, he
didn’t do so.
“We are not surprised because looking at
the background of the President, he does not really know the country he
is governing. Look at the people around him; there is no diversity. It
is worrisome and we call on him to make changes with immediate effect.”
The spokesperson for the Afenifere
Renewal Group, Mr. Kunle Famoriyo, said the President’s action suggested
that he was promoting a Northern agenda.
He added the situation depicted that the President was only comfortable in working with and for the Northerners.
Famoriyo said, “It is very clear to
everybody that the appointments of the heads of the security agencies
tend towards the North. It is clear to everybody the appointments are
Northern agenda than being pan-Nigeria agenda. This is clear for
everybody to see.
“Does that mean there is no person from
the South-West, South-East and the South-South that is qualified and
educated to hold any of those key positions? One is not happy that what
is supposed to have national character is not having it. That is the
issue that must be looked into.”
Famoriyo, however, urged President
Buhari to make his appointments reflect national character so that he
would not be labelled as a Northern President as against being Nigeria’s
President.
He said, “That is what the President
should do. He should make sure that all the appointments he will make
henceforth have national character. Even the issue of the ambassadorial
appointments too, some people have kicked that they tend to be favouring
a particular region.
“Whichever way you look at it, there are
many qualified and educated personnel in the South that can hold these
positions. The handwriting on the wall that the President appoints those
he is comfortable working with and those people happen to be
Northerners.”
Efforts to get the reaction of
presidential spokesmen did not yield positive result as of the time of
filing this report on Friday.
But earlier in the life of this
administration, the Presidency had, while reacting to similar allegation
of lopsidedness in Buhari’s appointments, assured agitated persons that
the President would balance his federal appointments.
The Special Adviser to the President on
Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, had while reacting to the
criticism that came after Buhari made six appointments, with five of
them from the North, promised that the President would respect federal
character as stipulated by the constitution.
Adesina had said, “Nobody can fault the fact that the persons appointed were appointed on merits.
“In terms of the spread, the President has prerogative to appoint and he knows there is federal character.
“I am sure that there will be balance in
the future. These are still early days. At the end of the day, we will
have a balance. By the time more appointments are made, it will balance
out.”
The presidential spokesman had asked
Nigerians to disregard talks of key or no key positions, as the
President has the interest of Nigerians at heart.
“The president is trying to get the very
best of Nigerians. The issue of key positions and no key positions
should not be the issue,” he had said.
