Presidency assures of balanced appointments after outcry

Posted by MailExpress 

 The presidency has assured that President Muhammadu Buhari will properly balance appointments as the executive cabinet begins to take shape.

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adeshina made this assurance on Friday morning on a live radio show monitored by Mail Express after outcries trailed the appointments of officials into five more key positions on Thursday evening.

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adeshina

According to Adeshina, the president is aware of the concerns of Nigerians who feel that yesterday’s appointments and the ones preceding it were lopsided and in favour of the Northern region of the country.

Adeshina, who admitted that he has been inundated with calls in the last 24 hours over the matter, explained that the president was aware of the constitutional provision of ‘Federal Character’ which directs that all appointments must be shared as equally as possible between the six geo-political zones of the country. He also noted that the appointments have so far been on merit, so Nigerians should understand why the appointments so far have gone the way they have.

“The first thing I tried to call their attention to is the merit of the appointments, the personal merit of each of the persons that have been appointed. We cannot run away from the fact each one of those appointed merit the position. They are qualified.

“But then in terms of the spread, what I often like to say is that the president has the prerogative to make appointments and he knows there is Federal Character in our constitution. I am sure that he bears that in mind as he makes the appointments that will come in the future. I believe that at the end of it all, there will be a balance.

“These are still early days in the appointments he is going to make. At the end of it all, I believe that we are going to have a balance,” Adeshina said.

He however argued that some appointments were not the president’s fault because he could not control the circumstances surrounding them.

“Don’t let us forget that some of those positions (appointments) were by elections, some were statutory whereby the next person in rank took over. There is nothing the president can do about that. If it’s an election, what would he do about it because he does not control the elections? The National Assembly came by election, so you can’t lay that at the feet of the president.

“The ones that he can control, there are still many of those ahead. (On) this issue of key or not key, I believe that every position can be made key depending on the person that has been appointed and how he applies himself to that position.

“I am sure that by the time we have more appointments coming, you will see that these things will balance out. The president is trying to make a very good job of it and to bring out the very best that Nigeria can afford; those that can bring about the change that we desire to bear on the country. As we go along, we will see that it will balance out.”

Culled from Daily Express