APPOINTMENTS: Buhari favoured South more than North – Records

ON MAY 21, 2019

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•South gets 52.4%, North 47.6%


IF the contents of classified records were anything to go by, the perception that President Muhammadu Buhari’s political appointments have unduly favoured the Northern part of the country is not supported by facts.

The classified documents, which contain all high profile political appointment made since Buhari came to power in 2015 show that the appointments have been largely balanced with the president’s North-West zone among the zones holding the shorter end of the stick.

The documents entitled: “Compilation of political appointees, heads of parastatals and agencies” and “Portfolios of ministers, special advisers, senior special assistants and special assistants to the President”, were last updated in December 2018. The documents, the first 43 pages and the second 17 pages, showed, for example, that between 2015 and 2018, while the North-Central topped the number of appointments in Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, with 102 appointees, the South-West came second with 101 appointees giving the two zones 35 per cent or 203 of the 567 appointments made. The South-South came third with 99 appointments, ahead of the North-West, which came fourth with 94.

The North-East followed with 93, and the South-East is least with 78. In the North-Central, Kogi topped with 22 appointees, followed by Kwara with 21, and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja got the least with two appointees. Ogun tops in S-West Ogun State in the South-West, topped countrywide with 31 appointees, more than the MDA appointments for three North-West states – Kebbi 13; Zamfara seven; and Sokoto six – combined. Buhari’s Katsina topped the North-West appointments with 24, while Kaduna and Kano each got 16; and Jigawa, 12. Although, the South-East was bottom, Imo State had the third highest number of MDA appointments countrywide with 29 appointees, while Anambra had 20; and Abia 14. Enugu and Ebonyi had eight and seven respectively. According to the documents, however, the percentage in executive management appointments in MDAs, show 51 per cent in favour of the 19 Northern states, and 49 per cent in favour of the 17 Southern states. And 124 high profile political appointments comprising special advisers, senior special assistants, and special assistants to the president were made out of which 59 were from the Northern region and 65 were from the South. This number excludes 36 ministers who are statutorily appointed one each from a state. Public opinion in the last four years has been hugely dominated by a perception of serious bias in appointments in favour of the North by the Buhari Administration.

The perception was further enhanced with the North producing the heads of the three arms of government, and heads virtually all the security agencies. Sentiments about regional bias in political appointments are sometimes laden with religious undertones, not reflected in the classified documents. The consequential nature of the postings is, also sometimes, a hotly contested issue, with some arguing that a section of the country gets more “juicy” appointments than others. But the appointments also show an interesting pattern. Of the 567 executive appointments in MDAs, 220 or 39 per cent were from states where Buhari lost to Jonathan, far better than public perception suggests. The South-South, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP stronghold, is number three on the MDAs appointments table with 99 appointees, beaten only by the North-Central and the South-West. For example, in Delta where Buhari lost to Jonathan by 1,162,495 votes and in Rivers State where he lost by 1,417,837 (two states where he suffered his worst losses), the MDA appointments were 23 in Delta and 13 in Rivers respectively, compared with the three core Northern states of Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara, with 26 appointments combined, but, total marginal winning votes of 1,454,002 over that of Jonathan. The appointments marginally tilt the balance in favour of the South, with 52.4 per cent against the North’s 47.6 per cent. The relatively higher number of such high-profile appointments from the North made between 2015 and 2016 (Buhari’s early days in office), tended to give the incorrect impression that the North retained an unfair share of the appointments to date. Kebbi, Zamfara, Nasarawa, Plateau, FCT, Bayelsa, Ebonyi have zero appointments of presidential aides and thus will not even appear in the chart. Adamawa and Kano top the list with 11 each; while Oyo follows with 10; Ogun nine; Lagos and Kaduna, eight each; and Katsina, seven. Ekiti and Osun tie at six; Delta and Ondo each have five; while Akwa Ibom and Edo each have four.

A reliable source who refused to be named said: “The President has been severely criticised for so-called lopsided appointments in favour of the North, but the facts hardly support this view.” ‘’Unfortunately, since the public has been misled to believe that the North has this government by the jugular, even those from parts of the North that have been short-changed are forced to suffer in silence. Some states like Zamfara and Kebbi that contributed almost four per cent each to his electoral success in 2015 have been deprived, but they can’t complain.” Southern leaders disagree However, some southern leaders have pooh poohed the records just as a group under the aegis of retired Civil Servants and Professionals from the Southern States, yesterday, cried over what it described as high level of marginalization and imbalance in appointments across federal parastatals and agencies in the country. The retired civil servants urged President Buhari to do more on the Federal Character to ensure that a particular region was not over loaded to the detriment of others, especially the Southern part of the country. Addressing Journalists in Abuja after the meeting, the group urged President Buhari to use his second term to seriously address all outstanding issues affecting national unity. In a joint Communique by Deacon Michael Adewale, Mr. John Ukaegbu and octogenarian Mrs. Mercy Tamuno, the group pleaded with President Buhari to listen more to the fears and concerns being expressed by people from various parts of the country, especially, southern states, just as they said that he can easily rank as one of the greatest leaders in Nigerian history. According to them, the government should appreciate the fact that not every group of concerned Nigerians is out to achieve political ends.

They particularly noted that the Federal Character Commission which is undertaking the task is only being headed by a southerner for the first time since 1996, adding that the person has only remained in acting capacity since last year. They said: “President Buhari’s second term can really be a ‘Next Level’ for the entire federation and the confirmation of the first southerner in the capacity of Chairman at Federal Character Commission will be a productive symbolism of the administration’s good intentions. Between December 1995 to March, 2001, Alhaji Adamu Fika from Yobe state was the commission’s chairman and he was succeeded by Alhaji Bello Kofa Bai from Katsina State, who was in the position from July, 2002 to January, 2007 when he handed over to Professor Abdulraheem from Kwara State, who stayed from April 2008 till October 2014 when he handed over to Alhaji Ari Gwaska from Nassarawa State, who was acting chairman from 2011 to 2012. “Alhaji Lawan Funtua from Katsina State was the commission’s acting chairman from 2013 to 2014 when Alhaji Bello Alkali from Kebbi State took over and handed over to Dr. Shettima Bukar Abba from Borno State who was there from January 2014 to July, 2018. “The first southerner, Abayomi Sheda from Ondo State got appointed in acting capacity in September 2018 and it would be a great change if he is confirmed to further give everyone from all parts of Nigeria a genuine sense of belonging.” South-East wants Buhari to be serious about true federalism —ABC Nwosu Speaking on the issue, Professor Alphonsus Nwosu, former Minister of Health and political adviser to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, said the South-East is less concerned about who gets what but deeply concerned about true federalism. “To compare the Jonathan administration to that of Buhari in term of fairness to the South-East is absolutely unimaginable. The Buhari administration knows it has been as cruel as he can be to the South-East by applying 97 per cent and five percent in his apointments.

The South-East simply wants Buhari to be serious about true federalism and restructuring of Nigeria which our founding fathers agreed upon.” Buhari’s appointments lopsided— Ozekhome Constitutional lawyer and human rights activist, Barrister Mike Ozekhome, SAN, said so far President Buhari’s appointments did not reflect the federal character principle and have been biased against the southern part of the country. He said: “I don’t agree at all. In what way has Buhari demonstrated fairness in the appointments he has so far made since he became President in 2015? Rather, his 97 per cent to 5 per cent quota of votes vis-a-vis allocation of important positions in government philosophy has been at work. The entire security apparatchik and architecture of Nigeria is over 95 per cent for Northern Muslims. Is that fair, just and egalitarian?” You can’t say appointments in security structure are fair, balanced — Ikokwu In like manner, Second Republic politician, lawyer and an elder of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, appointments in the security structure of the country are not fair and balanced so also recent appointments in the parastatals, Customs Service, Prisons, and the NNPC. His words: ‘’We are looking at facts not fiction. We are talking about appointments in the civil service, parastatals, and upper echelon of the economy.

The northerners who have been appointed will rule this country until they are 65 to 70 years. That is in the next 30 years, they will be in charge of Nigeria’s governance structure until they retire. The only thing that can solve this quagmire of random selection is for the country to embrace true federalism and restructure the governance system, in which case, any state that likes it can appoint only its citizens to man its parastatals and appoint others on contract. That was how it was in the past. That was the system that the military bastardised in the last 50 years. If the governance structure is well distributed, there will be no hues and cries. Is the security structure of the country fait and balanced. Everybody knows it is not.’’

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/05/appointments-buhari-favoured-south-more-than-north-records/

Hmmm in every twelve there'll always be a Judas

hmm

I can only see its irony.

When lies travels for 20 years, it takes just one day of travel for the truth to catch up with it. Irrespective of the wailing and the market noise, once your conscience is clear before man and god, you have nothing to be afraid of.

God bless Buhari. Ipob propaganda will not stop us from loving baba Buhari.

half truth

The truth has dissolved the lies, now they have nothing to offer. PMB ignore their lies and work hard to improve Nigeria.

Rubbish thread

All those who wish you and the country well must mince no words in warning you that Nigeria has become dangerously polarized and risk sliding into crisis on account of your administration’s lopsided appointments which continues to give undue preference to some sections of the country over others.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thecable.ng/breaking-your-lopsided-appointments-will-ruin-nigeria-umar-dangiwa-hits-buhari/amp

Publish the list of appointments first because the nepotism, favouritism & ethnic bigotry of the president is glaring for all to see.No man have ever beat Buhari's bigotry record from 1984 till date.Even IBB and Abacha never came close.You can only fool yourselves.

Rubbish comment.

ForeverFinesse:
Rubbish thread

madridguy:
Rubbish comment.

Rubbish reply

Deji is always ready to sell himself for a pot of gold

...bmc justfying their 30k/mo

Buhari the worst President in Africa....

Why these people are desperate to rebrand him is something..


GIVE LIVE INTERVIEW ABEG

GamalNasser:
Deji is always ready to sell himself for a pot of gold

A clear conscience fears no evil accusation.

GamalNasser:
Deji is always ready to sell himself for a pot of gold

the truth is bitter abi?
I have said, Ipob pigs are doing everything possible to tarnish the image of a good man.
God will continue to bless Buhari no matter the hatred by children of Jezebel.

Miracle1991:
the truth is bitter abi?
I have said, Ipob pigs are doing everything possible to tarnish the image of a good man.
God will continue to bless Buhari no matter the hatred by children of Jezebel.

Meanwhile people are dying not just from hunger, but COVID-19...no provisions, no healthcare,no hospitals


BLACK PEOPLE, your fear fear and jealousy will not allow you to better your land

I hope this piece of info has cleared the air.. Jona's government favoured the igbos more than all regions in the country but the igbos forgot that..

@ deji17, Nobody is complainig, in fact Sai Baba 2023, if he can't continue beyond 2023 let another herdsman take over the presidency till 2031.

Federal Character Commission:
-1).Alhaji Adamu Fika(Yobe state) -Dec.1995 to March, 2001.
-2).Alhaji Bello Kofa Bai(Katsina State) -July, 2002 to Jan.2007.
-3).Professor Abdulraheem(Kwara State) -April 2008 to Oct.2014.
-4).Alhaji Ari Gwaska(Nassarawa State) -2011 to 2012.
-5).Alhaji Lawan Funtua(Katsina State) - 2013 to 2014
-6).Alhaji Bello Alkali(Kebbi State).
-7).Dr.Shettima Bukar Abba(Borno State) -Jan.2014 to July, 2018.
-8 ).Abayomi Sheda(Ondo State) -Sept.2018(acting)

Judge for yourself.This is only one agency of government & these appointments happened even before the advent of the overtly bigoted and nepotic APC govt.

Banmeallday:


Meanwhile people are dying not just from hunger, but COVID-19...no provisions, no healthcare,no hospitals


BLACK PEOPLE, your fear fear and jealousy will not allow you to better your land

what is the work of your Governors? White man

Miracle1991:
the truth is bitter abi?
I have said, Ipob pigs are doing everything possible to tarnish the image of a good man.
God will continue to bless Buhari no matter the hatred by children of Jezebel.

Which truth , very altered stats

You mean Yorubas. Be careful when you mention south, before you receive unnecessary curse on yourself. Enjoy your Buhari but don't rub his ethnocentricism on others.

When a real southerner gets there Buhari’s atrocities will be reciprocated. End of story.

Banmeallday:
Buhari the worst President in Africa....

Why these people are desperate to rebrand him is something..


GIVE LIVE INTERVIEW ABEG

Is Buhari your president?
Wait for your albino hunchback porn star who is your president to give you live interview abeg

GamalNasser:


Which truth , very altered stats

bring your unaltered statistic let see.
You hate Buhari without any reason.

Ojiofor:
@ deji17, Nobody is complainig, in fact Sai Baba 2023, if he can't continue beyond 2023 let another herdsman take over the presidency till 2031.

That means Igbos will remain Osu of Nigeria till 2031
What a pity!

Ojiofor:
@ deji17, Nobody is complainig, in fact Sai Baba 2023, if he can't continue beyond 2023 let another herdsman take over the presidency till 2031.

The man has tried and posterity will judge him well. Both APC and PDP will present their presidential candidate in 2023. May the best candidate win.

See Jonathan ethnic and religious biased appointments .
This is what they expect, but Buhari is not like them.


Proverbs 28:1 – “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.


1. NGOZI OKONJO-IWEALA – (CHRISTIAN).
Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance
2. BRIGHT OKOGWU – DG Budget (CHRISTIAN).
3. EMEKA EZE – DG BPP (CHRISTIAN).
4. ARUNMA OTEH – DG SEC (CHRISTIAN).
5. OSCAR ONYEMA – DG NSE(CHRISTIAN).
6. CHIKE OBI – MD AMCON(CHRISTIAN).
7. CHINELU ONUOHA – DG PENCOM(CHRISTIAN).
8. GODWIN EMEFIELE – CBN Governor(CHRISTIAN).
9: UCHE ORJI – M D Sovereign Wealth Fund(CHRISTIAN).
10. SUNNY IROHA – DG Housing Fund(CHRISTIAN).
11. EVELYN OPUTA – MD BANK OF INDUSTRY(CHRISTIAN).
12. NNENNA ORJI – Chairman, (CHRISTIAN).Investments, Securities Tribunal
13. ANYIM PIUS ANYIM – SGF(CHRISTIAN).
14. DR. ANTHONY ANUFOROM – NIMET(CHRISTIAN).
15. ENGR. ANDREW YAKUBU – NNPC(CHRISTIAN).
16. PATRICK APOBOLOKEMI – NIMASA
17. MRS. CHINEBO ANOHU AMAZU – PENCOM(CHRISTIAN).
18. ENGR. CHUKWU AMUCHI – FERMA(CHRISTIAN).
19. MR. GEORGE OSAHON – DPR(CHRISTIAN).
20. MRS. EVELYN OPUTU – Bank of Industry(CHRISTIAN).
21. ERNEST NWANPA – Nigerian Content Dev. Agency(CHRISTIAN).
22.MRS. DUPE ATOKI – Consumer Protection Agency(CHRISTIAN).
23. ENGR. EUGENE JUWAH – NCC(CHRISTIAN).
24. ENGR. NNAMDI UDOH – NAMA(CHRISTIAN).
25. ENGR. AKIKUOTU – NCAA(CHRISTIAN).
26. GEORGE URIESI – FAAN(CHRISTIAN).
27. CAPT. CHINERE KALU – NCATY(CHRISTIAN).
28. DR. PAUL ORHII – NAFDAC(CHRISTIAN).
29. Dr. (MRS) G.N. ELEMO – FIIRO(CHRISTIAN).
30. ORON JOSHUA OKPO – Maritime Academy of Nigeria(CHRISTIAN).
31. ENGR. SEYI SIJUWADE – Railway Corporation(CHRISTIAN).
32. MRS. SALLY MBANEFOH – Nigerian Tourism Dev. Corporation(CHRISTIAN).
33. DR. BRIGHT OKOGWU – Budget Office of the Federation(CHRISTIAN).
34. PROF. GODSWILL OBIOMA – NERDC(CHRISTIAN).
35. MR. R.R. ORYA – NEXIM(CHRISTIAN).
36. DR. JOSEPH ODUMODU – (CHRISTIAN).Standards Organisation of Nigeria
37. EMEKA NKEM MBA(CHRISTIAN). – Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation
38. PROF. LONGMAS WAPMUK – Industrial Training Fund(CHRISTIAN).
39. PROF. JULIUS OKOJIE – National Universities Commission(CHRISTIAN).
40. MRS. N.S. BENEBO – NESREA(CHRISTIAN).
41. DR. PRECIOUS GBENJO – MDG Office(CHRISTIAN).
42. PETER CHIGOZIE – Surveyor General of the Federation(CHRISTIAN).
42. DR. YEMI KALE – Statistician General of the Federation(CHRISTIAN).
44. MR. JONAH OTUNLA – Accountant General of the Federation(CHRISTIAN).
45. SAMUEL YONONGO UKARA – Auditor General of the Federation(CHRISTIAN).
46. MIKE OMIERI – National Orientation Agency(CHRISTIAN).
47. OLUREMI OYO – News Agency of Nigeria (OLUREMI OYO was replaced by IMA NIBORO from the South South)
(CHRISTIAN).
48. DAVID I. ADELUGBA – NEPC E/S(CHRISTIAN).
49.MR. OLUGBENGA KUYE – NEPZA(CHRISTIAN).
50.PETER GODSDAY ORUBEBE – (CHRISTIAN).Niger Delta Ministry, etc
OUT OF 50 APPOINTMENTS ONLY 1 is from the north.