fire for some of his appointments
- The acting president was accused of
appointing Dr Okey Enelamah as Minister for
Trade and Investment
- He was also accused of appointing “his RCCG
Brother” Alex Okoh as DG of the Bureau of
Public Enterprise
Some Northern leaders have lambasted the acting
president for what they describe as sectional
appointments
Northern leaders in the past weeks, have been
grumblings about the acting president's
appointments.
A Dr Ismaila Farouk recently accused Osinbajo of
‘tactical’ nepotism and cronyism.
He said: “Contrary to the widely held belief that vice
President Osinbajo, a pastor of the Redeemed
Christian Church of God, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria,
and a Professor of Law is above board, a forensic
analysis of his activities since he assumed office
reveals that the VP has consistently abused his office, negating the principles of Federal Character and has
systematically favored members of the Redeemed
Church and his Yoruba tribe.”
The acting president was accused of appointing Dr
Okey Enelamah as Minister for Trade and Investment
The Northern leader lambasted the acting president
for the appointment of Dr Okey Enelamah as Minister
for Trade and Investment.
He argued that Enelameh was his Deputy and later
successor at the RCCG, Banana Island, Lagos.
He also accused the acting president of appointing
“his RCCG Brother” Alex Okoh as DG of the Bureau
of Public Enterprise.
According to the statement: “While Nigerians were
trying to come to terms with the shock of Pastor
Enelamah’s nomination, VP Osinbajo took a step
further in his nepotistic disposition in the setting up of
his office and selection of personal staff.
" First, he chose his former colleague at the University
of Lagos Ade Ipaye who was also his Special Adviser
while he was Attorney General of Lagos to serve as
his Chief of Staff. Unsurprisingly, Ade Ipaye hails from
Ogun state, the VP’s state of origin.
" He went on to relocate Laolu Akande, an indigene of
Ogun state who was hibernating in New York to
serve as his Media Adviser. For his Chief Economic
Adviser, he appointed Ambassador Dipeolu also of
Yoruba extraction.
"The VP didn’t stop there, of his 10 Principal Officers
in his office, 9 are from his Yoruba ethnic group. In his
quest to perpetuate his ilk in government, the VP has
capitalised on the magnanimity of President
Buhari’s implicit confidence in him to plant his
Yoruba and RCCG brethren in key agencies of government.”
Senior Special Assistant, Media to the acting
president, Laolu Akande, declined to comment,
according to the Sun.
Meanwhile, some northern leaders also criticized the
acting president.
Abubakar Tsav, former commissioner of police, Lagos
state “Osinbajo has been very active as acting
president working very hard, with zeal, dedication
and utmost efficiency and this is commendable.
However, the recent appointments he has been
making alarm me. Those appointments are very narrow and sectional. Those appointments will create
division and sow seeds of ethnic discord.
"How can Osinbajo appoint more than 80 per cent of
his personal staff from South-West? Not only that,
names of Yoruba also feature prominently on the list
of appointments he made into parastatals. Again,
most of these appointees are Christians. This is
unacceptable. Osinbajo should realise that he is now a national figure.
“Although Osinbajo is humane, but he should be
more liberal, and try to be pan-Nigerian in whatever
he is doing . With the public outcry against him on this
issue, I think he should do the needful. He should
realise that what he has done on this appointments
issue is not good for his own image, for the interests of the country, and it is also inimical to the growth
and development of democracy in this country.”
Alhaji Balarabe Musa, second republic governor of
kaduna state said: “I will comment appropriately
when I see it in prints. It has happened before. For
instance, this culture of WAZOBIA all the time, and
people are not ashamed of it. When the president
comes from the North, you see him marginalizing the Southeast, when the president comes from the
Southwest, you see him marginalizing the North,
even when the president comes from the South-south
you will not see the Southeast getting its fair share.
That is why some people who are honest are saying
that this time it has to come from the Southeast to give every Nigerian a sense of belonging and for
national unity. So, let us test them and see if it will be
the same thing from those from the North, Southwest
and South-south.
“It doesn’t make sense to surround yourself with
people from your area; it doesn’t provide you with
security. With the exception of Gowon and Murtala
Mohammed, others didn’t give equal opportunities
to people from other parts of the country. That is
what Nigerians who are concerned should put their heads together to stop.”
Dr. Junaid Mohammed, second republic member of
the House of Representatives in his reaction said:
“The way and manner Osinbajo made the recent
appointment goes to prove that in the event of
Osinbajo succeeding Buhari, we are going to have the
same problem of nepotism, clannishness, cronyism and religious bigotry.
“Buhari doesn’t know the difference between
cronyism, clannishness and religious bigotry, but the
one by Osinbajo is determined and being done to
pursue and favour the Yoruba agenda in Nigeria.
"This untenable and unacceptable and he should be
reminded in very clear terms that he has failed
legitimately, he was not elected. He is nothing but a
spare tyre and he still remains that.
“I understand (I have not been there though) that
since Buhari came to power, if you go to Osinbajo’s
office it is Ogun dialect that is spoken there. In
addition also, all the key appointments, even those
not made by Buhari, as he was not in office, he
insisted on his own Yoruba people. Is that the kind of Nigeria we want to build?
"All this goes to show that Nigerians were
unfortunate to have Buhari as a leader, because if
Buhari had been a leader there won’t have been all
these problems, but because he is not in charge of
the Presidency, it has been hijacked by the cabal, and
Osinbajo is trying to hijacked what remains of the presidency. His actions are condemnable.”
On his part, Alhaji Shettima Yerima, President, Arewa
Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF), said: “a lot of
government officials behave like that. When Buhari
was making his appointments, some of us shouted
and told him that this would not augur well with the
nation, and we are thinking of how to unite the country to avoid any reason for people to be making
agitations. What Osinbajo is doing is not different
from what Buhari is doing whereby all appointments
go to Daura village.
“This won’t help us, we must begin to see that the
right thing is done and begin to consider other people
and give each person a sence of belonging. When you
see agitations coming from some quarters, it is not
that they want to go; it is that they are not given the
sense of belonging.
Meanwhile, the special assistant to former president
Goodluck Jonathan on public affairs has said that it
will be wrong for the Acting president Yemi Osinbajo
to run for presidency if anything should happen to
President Muhammadu Buhari.
Doyin Okupe in an interview with Tribune said the
Northern region of Nigeria will feel cheated out if
Osinbajo runs for president in 2019.
Citing the case of a former president late Umaru
Yar'Adua, Okupe said the northerners are scared that
what happened in 2010 after Yar'Adua's death might
happen again.
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