A former presidential aide, Mr. Reno Omokri, has absolved President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of alleged favouritism.
According to him, the president’s appointments are the most balanced in the country’s history.
President Tinubu has faced criticism from political opponents who assert that his top appointments favour his Yoruba ethnic group.
However, the former presidential aide criticised the feedback as unfair, stating that the critics did not consider the president’s appointments comprehensively. Specifically, Omokri mentioned that columnist Farooq Kperogi relied on a set of appointments to support his conclusion in an article.
“The membership of one committee cannot establish tribalism. It is intellectually lazy and a hasty generalisation to make such a conclusion from just one alleged example, which is not even accurate,” he said in a statement yesterday.
He stated that the critics would have reached a different conclusion if they had considered the appointments holistically and in relation to the nation’s order of precedence list.
Omokri pointed out that, unlike in the past, Tinubu ensured that the nation’s leadership’s top hierarchy, including the executive, legislature, and judiciary, was evenly distributed among the country’s six geopolitical zones.
He stated: “When you take appointments made by the President and weigh them according to their ranking on the National Order of Precedence of Public Officers and Other Persons, it becomes clear that President Tinubu is perhaps one of Nigeria’s most accommodating leaders, especially when you compare him with his immediate predecessor.
“If you examine the National Order of Precedence of Public Officers and Other Persons, following the President and his deputy, you will find that the President of the Senate, other legislative leaders, the Chief Justice of the Federation, and other judicial officers, along with the cabinet, reveal that the top appointive position in Nigeria is the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
“Under General Buhari, Babachir Lawal and Boss Mustapha served as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation; both were Northerners like Buhari. Under Tinubu, Senator George Akume, also a Northerner, holds the position of Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
“Next is the Office of the Head of the Civil Service. Buhari appointed Mrs. Folasade Yemi-Esan from the North-Central region, while President Tinubu named Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack from the South-South region to lead that office.”
Omokri praised Tinubu for maintaining balance in the appointments of the defence forces’ service chiefs and the heads of the security services.
He listed the holders of the offices, “National Security Adviser: Nuhu Ribadu NE; Chief of Army Staff: Lt.- General Olufemi Olatubosun SW; Chief of Air Staff: Air Marshal Hasan Bala Abubakar NW; Chief of Naval Staff: Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla SE; Inspector General of Police: Kayode Egbetokun SW; Director General of the DSS: Tosin Ajayi SW; Director General of the NIA: Ambassador Mohammed Mohammed NC; Chief of Defence Intelligence: Major General Emmanuel Undiandeye SS; Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service: Kemi Nandap NC (by marriage); Comptroller-General of Customs: Bashir Adewale Adeniyi SW; Controller General of the Nigerian Correctional Service: Sylvester Ndidi Nwakuche SE; Chairman, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency: Mohammed Buba Marwa NE;
Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission: Olanipekun Olukoyede SW; Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Commission: Shehu Usman Mohammed NW;
Commandant-General, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps: Dr. Ahmed Abubakar Audi NC; Chairman, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission: Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu NW; CEO, Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit: Hajiya Hafsat Bakari NE; and Controller-General of the Federal Fire Service: Engr. Jaji O. Abdulganiyu, NC
He emphasised that a dispassionate analysis of the president’s appointments would show that the Northwest was dominant, followed by the Southwest, explaining that this was due to the zones’ high population.
“The Northwest has dominated President Tinubu’s appointments precisely because it is Nigeria’s most populous geopolitical zone. When you read the enabling law setting up the Federal Character Commission, population is one of the factors you take into account when fulfilling the Federal Character principle,” he explained.
He states, “27% of Nigeria’s population is from the Northwest, and 20% is from the Southwest. In addition, the Southwest is by far the most educated part of Nigeria. Therefore, these two regions will dominate any government built on merit and federal character.”
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