charge - Presidency
- The presidency accuses some forces of
cooking up unfounded allegations against
acting president, Yemi Osinbajo
- A source in the presidency faults allegations
made by one Ismaila Farouk, that Osinbajo
only appoints Yoruba or members of the
Redeemed Christian Church of God as his aides
- The presidency claims that Ismaila Farouk is
a fictitious name that does not exist
The presidency has alleged that some forces had
wanted to be in control of the government in the
absence of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The presidency also said the forces aware that
Osinbajo was fully in charge, of government were
aggrieved and therefore thought they could pit him
against the public by cooking up unfounded
allegations against him, This Day reports.
A source in the presidency made the allegation in
reaction to claims by one Ismaila Farouk, that acting
president, Yemi Osinbajo, only appoints Yoruba or
members of the Redeemed Christian Church of God as
his aides.
Newslanded had reported that one Dr Ismaila Farouk recently accused Osinbajo of ‘tactical’ nepotism
and cronyism.
Ismaila in an article had cited the composition of the
presidential advisory and competitiveness council,
and key appointments like the chief executive
officers of Bank of Industry and pension commission.
The presidency has alleged that some forces are
aggrieved that Osinbajo was fully in charge of
government
The article among others, accused the acting
president of appointing “his RCCG Brother” Alex
Okoh as DG of the Bureau of Public Enterprise.
The acting president was also accused of appointing
his deputy when he was the Pastor of RCCG, Banana
Island, Lagos, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, who is
minister of Trade, as the vice chairman of the
presidential advisory and competitiveness council.
Dr Ismaila Farouk also claimed that Osinbajo was
strategising for 2019 with the hope that Buhari would
be unable to contest.
However, a presidency source faulted all the
allegations made by Ismaila Farouk against the
acting president.
The source, according to This Day on Saturday, June 3,
claimed that Ismaila Farouk was a fictitious name
that did not exist anywhere.
The source alleged that the article was written by
some forces who were unhappy that the acting
president was in control of government machinery.
According to the source, the allegations were a
smear campaign to distract the acting president from
carrying on with his commitment to ensure that
issues plaguing the nation at the moment were
addressed as instructed by his boss, President Buhari.
On the appointment of the Director-General of
PenCom, the presidential source explained: “There
has been much talk about failure of government to
replace the former Pencom Director General with
someone from the same zone as hers. It is argued
that this ran contrary to Section 21(2) of the Pension Reform Act 2014. However, that section only applies
‘in the event of a vacancy.’
“Indeed, in that case, the President shall appoint a
replacement from the same geo-political zone of the
immediate past member who vacated the office to
complete the remaining tenure. This is to ensure that
no geo-political zone loses out in the event of a
removal and replacement of one particular member, when others from other zones remain in office.
“However, where as in this case, the entire Board is
dissolved and reconstituted, the question is not about
replacement of any particular person from any
particular geo-political zone. Rather, it is to ensure
that in the newly reconstituted Board, every one of
the six political zones is represented. The new appointees, covering all zones, are as follows: Ali
Usman Ahmed (North East)- Chairman; Funso Doherty
(South West) -Director General, Manasseh Terna
Denga (North Central) -Commissioner; Abubakar Zaki
Magawata (North West) – Commissioner; Ben Oviosu
(South South) -Commissioner and Nyerere Ayim (South East) – Commissioner.
“Unfortunately, another controversy arose,
following the slight alteration in the list earlier
announced. The nominees have not taken office. So,
thankfully, it is not a matter of vacancy this time. But
why this alteration anyway?
“Unfortunately, the earlier announced appointment
of Abdulrahman Dikko was found to be in error, as it
ran contrary to Section 19 (5) of PRA 2014 which says
that ‘the chairman and members of the PenCom
Board shall not own controlling shares in any of the
pension funds administrator or pension funds custodian prior to or during their tenure of office as
chairman or members of the board.’
“It is not disputed that Dikko is currently a majority
shareholder at Premium Pension Limited, one of the
most prominent pension funds administrators in
Nigeria today, hence the need to immediately rectify
the error by moving him to a position for which he is
clearly qualified. Dikko is now the appointed Chairman of the Bank of Industry Board,” he added.
Speaking on the allegation that the acting president
was strategising for 2019, the presidential source
noted that politicking had never been a matter for
contemplation by the vice-president.
The source pointed out that Osinbajo had reluctantly
accepted the offer to be vice-president, a reason
which explains why he has never bothered to use his
office to build a political structure for himself in his
south-west zone.
Meanwhile, Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state
has called on the President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) federal government
to pay more attention to the menace Fulani herdsmen in the country.
Newslanded reported that the governor specifically mentioned Benue State, saying: “What is going on in
Benue state is more like an organised pogrom and
those responsible for the killings in the state must be
arrested and prosecuted.”
The governor said Acting President Yemi Osinbajo
should be allowed to function as the president so as
to be able to deploy instruments of the federal
government to tackle the herdsmen menace.
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